Silence and solitude
Spiritual Transformation Course
ALAN SCOTT
t h i s c o u r s e h a s b e e n a da p t e d f r o m " t h e l i f e yo u ' v e a lway s wa n t e d" by j o h n o rt b e r g
a n d "C e l e b r at i o n o f D i s c p l i n e " by r i c h a r d Fo s t e r
ALAN SCOTT 2016
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s il e n c e a n d s o l it ud e : sp i r i tual tr an sfor mati on c ou r se
this c our se ha s been adap ted from " the life you' ve always wanted" by john ortberg
and "Celebration of Dis cipline" by richard Fo ster
One of the challenges in our lives of substantial transformation and becoming like Jesus is our recognition
that our times are exceptionally different. We live in an era of unparalleled speed and access. Superficiality
is the curse of our age and the doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. We want
everything now. Change that, we want everything yesterday. We suffer from hurry sickness.
Do you live with a daily sense that there is not enough time to accomplish everything that you need to get
done?
YES/NO
Do you find yourself talking faster because there is too much to say?
YES/NO
Do you nod a lot when a person is talking slowly in an effort to keep them moving along?
YES/NO
When people are talking too slowly do you ever find yourself wanting to (or actually) finishing their
sentences?
YES/NO
Do you ever drive faster than is safe (even sometimes when you are not in a hurry)?
YES/NO
When you stop at a red light with two or more lanes with cars in them, do you ever try to anticipate
which car looks faster so you can get behind that car and save a few seconds when the light turns green?
YES/NO
Do you ever try to gauge which line at the grocerv store will be the quickest and get in that line? And if it
turns out you picked the slower line, does it bother you?
YES/NO
Do you multi-task and try to get more than one thing done at a time on a regular basis?
YES/NO
Do you have a big pile of magazines, newspapers, and books to read "some day"?
YES/NO
Do you live your life driven by schedules and to do lists?
YES/NO
Do you find it difficult to say no when others ask you to do things that will add one more item to your
schedule?
YES/NO
Share how many times you circled yes to the questions above and tell your group what you think this
reveals about the place of hurry in your life.
ALAN SCOTT 2016
Al l r i g ht s re se rv e d. Th is art icle may no t be copied, repr inted or distr ibuted w ithout pr ior per m ission.
In order to be spiritually healthy you must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. Busyness creates
superficiality and its difficult to live spiritually healthy whilst being continually busy. Carl Jung the
famous psychologist once said that “hurry is not of the devil, it is the devil."
All too often we arrive at the end of a busy day increasingly empty rather than full. We discover
that the fruit of an increasingly busy life is an increasingly empty soul. We feel depleted rather than
completed. We have accomplished more and more yet become even less. Constantly driven by
demands and distractions. Ultimately left fatigued and frustrated and far from the life we have always
wanted.
Jesus warned us against allowing such practices to creep into our souls.
The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked
by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. @ Luke 8:14
In groups: What are some signs that hurry is growing in our hearts?
Constantly speeding up daily activities: Out of the desperate need to hurry or the increasing need for
more, we find ourselves doing or thinking more than one think at a time. We are rarely present to the
moment, let alone present in the moment.
Superficiality: skimming and living on the surface without taking the time to cultivate depth. When I
am rushed and hurried I don’t have time to go deep.
Reduced capacity/inability to love: Love and hurry are fundamentally incompatible. It is because it kills
love that hurry is the great enemy to spiritual life.
Personal Reflection: If you were to take this exhortation with all seriousness, "to be spiritually healthy,
you must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life," what is one thing you would need to change in
your life so you could slow down?
Ruthlessly eliminate. AND Continuously Cultivate
SABBATH: Sabbath is God’s pathway for finding rest in a world of rush. The biblical practice here
was sabbath. Sabbath was when we steep our hearts again in the reality of God. Every seven days our
spiritual, emotional and physical batteries need to be recharged. This is not just a good idea – it’s the
way we safeguard sustainability in our lives. This is one of the ways we avoid burnout.
HEBREW RHYTHM: In the beginning it was evening then morning. The evening hours – the hours
they spent together after it was too dark to work – are actually the first and most important part of the
day. Priority was given to time with family and time for rest. Productivity was the last part of the day.
Typically the day would begin with shared time together around a meal that all the family had been
in on. They would share stories. Then there would be a period of prolonged rest and recovery prior to
engaging in work. We never intended to work all the time, we were not made to work into the night.
Certainly not to take pride in such performance. We were designed to experience sacred rest. Sabbath
is God’s strategy for getting you through seasonal stress.
ALAN SCOTT 2016
Al l r i g ht s re se rv e d. Th is art icle may no t be copied, repr inted or distr ibuted w ithout pr ior per m ission.
Its 24 hours to remind yourself that it doesn’t all depend on you. Its 24 hours to restore your soul. Its
24 hours to reconnect your relationships. Its 24 hours to recharge. Soak in relationships. This is what
the family meal is essentially about. Soaking in relationships. This is why Jews were encouraged to eat
3 meals on the Sabbath instead of the usual two. Sabbath time brings us back together. It reconnects us
in a world where our pace dislocates us. The Hebrews would take some time at a Sabbath meal to bless
their kids.
I would encourage you to unplug on your Sabbath. Sabbath permits us to recharge through solitude.
Unplug. Include time for quietness in your life. Its in the stillness and the silence that you recover your
life. Listen ‘in repentance and rest is your salvation. In quietness and trust is your strength.’ Its not
busyness and rush, its quietness and trust. You need quiet time..
"It is not so much that we ‘keep the sabbath’ as that the sabbath keeps us — keeps us whole, keeps us
sane, keeps us spiritually alive.” - Leonard Sweet
SLOWING - Creating a rhythm of slowing: Look at the rhythm of creation. everything around this
season is preparing for rest and is recognising the importance of slowing. Take time to be in a place of
rest. Be open to the idea of going to bed earlier. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is go to
bed.
"We need time and space to distance ourselves from the frenzy of our own activities so we can see what
God has been doing and is doing.” - Eugene Peterson
SOLITUDE - Loneliness is the ultimate poverty. Our fear of being alone drives us towards noise.
Jesus calls us from loneliness to solitude. Solitude is choosing to spend time on our own. Alone time. In
solitude we purposefully abstain from interaction with others. Loneliness is inner emptiness. Solitude is
inner rest, inner fulness.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary
place, where he prayed.
@ Mark 1:35
We don’t have to leave life. We do have to practice a different rhythm. It doesn’t come naturally. It takes
discipline to slow down. It takes intentional focus to practice solitude.
"Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. Let him who is not in community beware of
being alone." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
We need brief periods of solitude during each day and we also require occasional extended periods of
solitude, half a day, a few days.
- Daily Diversions
- Weekly Withdrawals
- Monthly Moments
- Annual Abandonments
Again work with your personality. Keep it fun. Take into account your season in life.
ALAN SCOTT 2016
Al l r i g ht s re se rv e d. Th is art icle may no t be copied, repr inted or distr ibuted w ithout pr ior per m ission.
With all of that in mind, when are good times to practice solitude?
Times of Reflection: particularly in the midst of seasons of effectiveness or expansion. We can lose
our voice, his voice in the voices of others. Solitude is essential not simply to regather our thoughts but
to come under his thoughts. In solitude we choose the freedom of being alone in order to hear better.
(Foster p.85)
Times of Transition: Jesus spent forty days alone in the wilderness before commencing His ministry.
He spent an entire night alone prior to selecting his disciples.
"One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.
When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also
designated apostles."
@ Luke 6:12-13
Times of Expansion:
"The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because
so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them,
“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
@ Luke 6:30-31
Times of Depletion: When you are aware that you are running on empty. You are doing more and
getting less and your sense of pleasure is exhausted. There is a distinct loss of wonder and creativity.
Its time for solitude, leaving behind other interaction and lifestyle distractions and choosing
contemplation again. Giving our exclusive focus to God. When there is the neglect of beauty and
curiosity is a stranger to our soul. Its time for solitude.
Spiritual Exercises
Homework: Watch the Nooma DVD on silence.
There is so much going on in your life that you need to get alone. Many people use the whole weekend
to rest but they never get quiet and they wonder why they are still stressed.
this c our se ha s been adap ted from " the life you' ve always wanted" by john ortberg
and "Celebration of Dis cipline" by richard Fo ster
ALAN SCOTT 2016
Al l r i g ht s re se rv e d. Th is art icle may no t be copied, repr inted or distr ibuted w ithout pr ior per m ission.