Our lives are so busy, so noisy, loud, filled with messages bombarding us in every direction. The world around us can be a distracting place, it can fill our minds and hearts with things that keep us from communion with God. Or maybe our family life is chaotic which doesn’t always allow for quiet space to pray and talk to God. From the moment we open our eyes to when we lay our heads on our pillows, our minds and hearts can so easily become heavy.
And this is when we often seek out solitude. Jesus knew all about this. We see it over and over again in the gospels, Jesus would go somewhere to be alone, to pray and reconnect with God.
Matthew 14:23 “And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went upon the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.”
Mark 6: 31-32 “Because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, Jesus said to his disciples, ‘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.’”
Luke 6:12 “In these days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.”
This isn’t new information for some of us. We love to model this. When our anxieties, stress, family life, social life all become too much, we disconnect and seek solitude. And that is good, necessary even. But solitude alone isn’t enough. It is in the quietness of our heart that we make room for Jesus. That we make space for our Creator to speak to us. Not only did Jesus seek out physical silence but he was seeking out silence of the heart. I love picturing Jesus out in nature, alone, but not lonely, because he was surrounded in creation and was in communion with the Heavenly Father. He was making space in his heart to hear his Creator and Father.
There is an old Indigenous Legend that goes something like this:
“Creator gathered all the creatures together and said ‘I want to hide something from the humans until they are ready for it. It’s the teaching that their perspective can change their reality.’
‘Then Eagle said, ‘Give it to me, I will take it to the moon.’
Creator said, ‘No One day they will go there and find it.’
Then Salmon said, ‘I will bury it on the bottom of the ocean.’
Creator said, ‘No, they will go there too’
Then Buffalo said ‘I will bury it on the Great Plains.’
Creator said, ‘They will cut into the skin of the earth and find it even there.’
Grandmother Mole who lives in the breast of Mother Earth, and who has no physical eyes but sees with spiritual eyes, said ‘Put it inside of them, in their hearts.’
And Creator said, ‘Good, they seldom look there. It is done.”
This story is reminder, an invitation even, to search your heart and make it ready for to hear from God. Quiet your heart, so that you may speak to Jesus, and he may speak to you.
The Pslamist in chapter 139:24 cried out “search me God, and know my heart”... know my heart. This is an invitation to God, our Creator, asking him to understand us, examine us, love us. And in doing so, we make space for Him.
Mother Teresa was a strong woman of faith, and spent most of her time in overcrowded cities serving the poor and outcast. She understood it was necessary to quiet her mind and heart in preparation to hear from God. In one of her open letters she says,
“the fruit of silence is prayer
the fruit of prayer is faith
The fruit of faith is love
The fruit of love is service
the fruit of service is peace.”
Make space in your heart today for the one who Created you. And as you quiet your heart, what would he be saying to you? That you are loved. That you are worthy. That you have purpose. And as you go about your day, however loud your surroundings are, quiet your heart. For in the silence of the heart God speaks.
