Week Forty-One: Solitude. October 8 – Called into the Desert
Almost all the greater and more profound secrets were revealed to God’s friends when they were alone and not in the midst of milling crowds. Carthusian Customs
Gregg’s Reflection
To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter into the desert of our loneliness and to change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a garden of solitude. Henri Nouwen
When I first began to spend longer stretches of time in Colorado, I realized solitude was not simply about being away from people. At first, my extroverted self resisted the quiet, and I grew restless when the calendar was empty. I thought solitude meant absence, but slowly it became a presence — a space where the noise of the city gave way to a silence that was alive with God.
Jesus often withdrew to deserted places, not to escape responsibility, but to ground himself more deeply in the Father. For twenty years, we spent three months in the busyness of Atlanta, and then three months on the mountain in Colorado.
That rhythm of withdrawal and return has shaped me over the years. In solitude, I came to see that what looked like emptiness from the outside was, in truth, a spaciousness within — the soil where prayer, reflection, and compassion could take root.
Looking back, I see how solitude has formed me more than any crowded room or busy season. It has stripped away the illusion that I am defined by what I do, and reminded me that my deepest identity is found in God alone. Solitude is not just a pause from the world; it is the place where I hear again who I am, and whose I am.
Scripture
Ancient Quotes
Almost all the greater and more profound secrets were revealed to God’s friends when they were alone and not in the midst of milling crowds.
Carthusian Customs, in Bernard McGinn, Essential Writings of Christian Mystics, p. 132
Modern Quotes
To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter into the desert of our loneliness and to change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a garden of solitude.
Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out, p. 34
Journaling Prompts
- When have I experienced solitude as invitation rather than escape?
- What fears or distractions surface when I enter into solitude?
- How might God be leading me into a “desert place” to speak to my heart this week?
- In what ways does solitude prepare me for my life with others?
Go deeper into this week’s theme:
Read the full Week 41 Reflection: Solitude