The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Part three: Practices for unhurrying your life
Silence and solitude (2|3)
Pages 127-135
TOGETHER read the book (END READING AT: …and I know of no better place than the eremos.) then the following scripture slowly and attentively.
INDIVIDUALLY take notes in your journal on what stands out.
Psalm 62:5 (NIV) Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him.
Exodus 33:7 | 11 (NIV) Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. | The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.
GROUP DISCUSSION:
Read the account of Jesus Feeding the Five Thousand but do not focus on the miracle - focus on the disciples before and after the miracle. Focus on their exhaustion, their desire to send people away, to call it a night, in verse 31 Jesus invites them to get some rest but that gets derailed by the need to do more ministry. Then they are tasked to become food distribution with five thousand people when they are already tired. That works out to be serving a little more than 400 people for each disciple. That’s like catering a good-sized reception hall banquet by yourself! WOW! Jesus made loaves and fish appear out of thin air - couldn’t he have made them appear in the hands of the people and skipped the hauling around of heavy baskets for distribution?! Notice the number of baskets of leftovers (one for each disciple) - notice it foreshadows what is to come with the “broken pieces of bread”. Can you see them groaning and stretching and yawning after the work is done and Jesus is smiling at them?
Mark 6:30-44 (NIV) 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.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.” Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
Share just one or two things that stood out to you while reading the book and/or scripture. (try to keep it brief)
TOGETHER pray for one another.
INDIVIDUALLY answer the questions in your journal - process your notes and pray.
You can chart Jesus’ life along two axis points, the busier and more in demand and famous Jesus became, and the more he withdrew to his quiet place to pray. When we get overbusy and life is hectic and people are vying for our time, the quiet place is the first thing to go rather than our first go-to.
What is your reaction to that statement?
SILENCE:
There are two dimensions of silence - external and internal. Quiet is a spiritual discipline in and of itself. A millennium and a half ago, the African theologian Saint Augustine said entering silence is “entering into joy.”
Saint John Climacus, the sixth-century Syrian monk who spent most of his life praying on Mount Sinai, so beautifully said, “The friend of silence draws near to God.”
What is your reaction to these quotes?
SOLITUDE:
Solitude doesn’t mean isolation. Solitude is engagement, isolation is escape. Solitude is safety; isolation is danger. Solitude is how you open yourself up to God; isolation is painting a target on your back for the tempter. Could the antidote for this spiritual malaise be as “easy” as silence and solitude?
What is your response to this question?
Do you feel like solitude is a gift or a punishment? (think solitary confinement is prison) Monks have spent long periods in solitude seeking God in prayer and meditation - prisoners have been driven to insanity after less than a week in isolation? Which one do you gravitate to? This goes far deeper than introvert vs extrovert in our personality.
Have you ever taken a silent retreat? How did it go? If you have not - would you be interested in trying it (or does it sound like torture)?
Set a challenge for yourself to schedule one hour during the next week to seek solitude. Spend time with Jesus. Do your best to turn off distractions and interruptions. Just sit and BE with Jesus.
Afterwards, journal about how it went. Were you refreshed? Could you not turn the noise in your brain off? Could you not go more than 30 seconds without your thoughts wandering? Make sure to have grace for yourself. It takes practice to quiet the mind, body, and soul. Brother Adam Neri from St Paul’s Outreach said he takes an annual week of silence and solitude retreat and it normally takes 72 hours for his mind and body to begin to settle into a place of peace. “The first two days are mostly napping out of the exhaustion that I carry in my mind, body, and soul.”
EXTRA READING:
Watchman Nee was a Chinese church leader in the early twentieth century. He was a courageous pastor and writer who saw a great revival in China. He had no formal theological training, but with a deep commitment, he undertook thirty years of ministry in the underground church in China. Eventually, he was imprisoned for his faith and remained in prison for two decades until his death.
“It is a dangerous thing to be a Christian in our world.”
- Watchman Nee (1903 - 1972)