Читать книгу Reconnect - David Sherbino - Страница 16

When we are constantly with others it can become extremely demanding and draining upon us. Regularly we hear of people suffering from ‘burn out’. This is a place where we are drained and we feel we have nothing more to give. We are emotionally ‘flat lined’. In silence and solitude we can be renewed physically, emotionally and spiritually so that we can go back into the mainstream of life and minister ‘in the name of Jesus’. Most will not be called to live a life of separation from society; we are called to live in community, but this is a demanding place simply because people are demanding.

As we spend time alone with God, He will renew us and enable us to minister to others with the same tenderness and compassion He showed. Without this time of renewal we have a tendency to become ‘weary in well doing’, and begin to resent the demands people make on us. When Jesus saw the needs of the people He always showed compassion toward them, for He saw them as ‘sheep without a shepherd’.

Thomas Merton stated, “solitude is not turning one’s back on the world; it is turning one’s face toward God”.⁽⁶⁾ When we do this we have a different attitude toward people. We start to listen to them, to be less judgmental of them, and to be fully present with them.