We conclude our series with Thomas Merton saying to us, “Solitude is not something you must hope for in the future. Rather, it is a deepening of the present, and unless you look for it in the present you will never find it.”
No wonder David J Evan’s Hymn “Be still for the presence of the Lord, the holy one is here,” is among one of the nations favourite hymns.
Yet Solitude and loneliness are two very different things. I think that sometimes we may avoid solitude because we do not understand the difference. Albert Einstein touched upon it when he said, “It is strange to be known so universally, and yet be so lonely.”
I recently read an interesting if not an odd way of looking at being . The writer asks the reader to “Imagine at the end of your life you're welcomed into the presence of Jesus and you are ushered into your own "media room." You're told that you get to sit on a comfortable couch and that you're going to watch a video of your life. The video is a compilation of all the moments in your life when you were fully present, all the moments when you weren't numbed-out or distracted by media technology—TV, the Internet, mobile phones—all the moments when you were totally engaged with others or fully attentive to God.” The writer then asks.”How long was your video?”
In the Acts of the Apostles we find Paul preaching with the words, “In Him we live and move and have our being…..For we also are His offspring.’
Perhaps, praying and living David J Evan’s hymn is a good place to start deepening the present.
Be still, for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place:
He comes to cleanse and heal,
To minister his grace -
No work too hard for him.
In faith receive from him.
Be still, for the power of the Lord
Is moving in this place. Amen
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