"Shakespeare, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, and Lincoln never saw a movie, heard a radio, or looked at a TV. They had 'loneliness' and knew what to do with it. They were not afraid of being lonely because they knew that was when the creative mood in them would mark."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer sensed a certain value of solitude when he wrote, "It is as though in solitude the soul develops senses which we hardly know in everyday life."
It is important to understand that there is a vast difference between being lonely and being alone. It is also important to distinguish between being alone with God in solitude, and merely being alone.
The man or woman of God thrives on the times when he or she can be alone with God, just being still and quiet before Him.
Robert H. Benson once wrote, "It is in silence that God is known, and through mysteries that He declares Himself."
Our idea of solitude today is a few stolen moments while we are driving from one place to another, or five minutes with our feet propped up before the next thing on our schedule. But the Bible does not read, "Run frantically around, and know that I am God." Read it for yourself; it still says, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10).
But it does not happen automatically. Especially in our day, when there are so many distractions and responsibilities and expectations, we must deliberately carve out time to spend with Him.
--Rocky Henriques, www.uticabc.com