Читать книгу Reconnect - David Sherbino - Страница 20

“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.” Mk.1:35

Henri Nouwen states: “in the middle of sentences loaded with action – healing suffering people, casting out devils, responding to inpatient disciples, traveling from town to town and preaching from synagogue to synagogue – we find these quiet words.

In the center of breathless activities we hear a restful breathing. Surrounded by hours of moving we find a moment of quiet stillness. In the heart of much involvement there are words of withdrawal. In the midst of action there is contemplation. And after much togetherness there is solitude. The more I read this nearly silent sentence locked in between the loud words of action, the more I have the sense that the secret of Jesus ministry is hidden in that lonely place where he went to pray, early in the morning, long before dawn

In a lonely place Jesus finds the courage to follow God’s will and not his own; to speak God’s words and not his own; to do God’s work and not his own. He reminds us constantly: “I can do nothing by myself … my aim is to do and not my own well,” but the will of him who sent me” (John 14:10). It is in the lonely place, where Jesus enters into intimacy with the father come that his ministry is born.” (11)

In solitude Jesus was able to listen to the voice of the Father and not be directed by the needs and demands of the people. In prayer the first thing we need is to be silent before God so that we can hear Him speak to us.

Jesus also told his followers that when they prayed they were to ‘go into their room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret’. Prayer was never intended to be an act whereby one reveals their piety before others. This was something the Pharisees loved to do. In the silent place we are able to simply ‘be’ with God not distracted by our surroundings or the presence of others so that we can focus upon and listen to God. Solitude is the place where we can risk being transparent before God. He knows our heart, and it is important if we want to develop an intimate relationship with him that we be totally honest with him and with our self. We will only risk doing this when we are in the presence of one who loves and accepts us as we are unconditionally.