Irenic Road

Solitude

Last Sunday my pastor, Paul Stewart, gave a sermon on silence, solitude, and meditation. (We’re in a series on the spiritual disciplines.) As an introduction he played this video from Rob Bell, which concludes in 8 minutes of silence with only words appearing on the screen. It was positively unnatural. Sixty-odd people sitting in complete silence seemed a greater affront to the status quo than one wannabe revolutionary holding forth at Speaker’s Corner. When it ended, you could hear everybody begin breathing regularly again and fidget in their chairs. I felt relatively comfortable because as an introvert, these disciplines come naturally to me. Meditation takes some effort, but silence and solitude… easy. Or so I like to tell myself. In reality, my solitude is interrupted more by my own harried thoughts than any outside distraction. What may have been begun as non-linear free association and meditation on, say, John 3:30, often ends up in the ruts of my petty anxieties.

I’ve found at least one practical defense against this: manual labor. Steady, repetitive tasks seem to provide a low level of distraction that keeps my mind from turning in on itself. Doing  dishes, dusting, folding clothes, walking or running, mowing— all these have a certain tempo and regularity that promote mental clarity and focus.

Well. There’s more that could be said, but I’m getting sleepy. Other thoughts on Sunday can be found at a mighty stream and Religion is Easy. Here’s some introverted “Clarity” for you.

A Sunday – Jimmy Eat World