 |
| Norway spruce in my front yard. |
Back in the 1980s, when we lived in East Lansing, one of my favorite places to go alone to pray was 30 feet up a 60-foot pine tree in a local forest preserve. The tree branches were thick, numerous, like steps ascending to the heights. There, I sat on two branches, crafted by God for my body. One day I tied a leather bracelet I had made around a branch. On it I wrote "A holy indifference." Is it still there, forty-five years later? Is the tree still standing? I've occasionally thought of going back to reclaim my bracelet.
High up in this tree I felt alone with God. I spent many hours praying there. I loved it when a breeze would move the tree branches. Inwardly, I was being moved by God's Spirit. This, for me, was a "lonely place apart." (Luke 5:16)
When I assign seminary students to pray, I insist that they find a place to do this apart from their home, workplace, car, iPad, and cell phone. Like, e.g., up a tree.
High up in this tree I felt alone with God. I spent many hours praying there. I loved it when a breeze would move the tree branches. Inwardly, I was being moved by God's Spirit. This, for me, was a "lonely place apart." (Luke 5:16)
When I assign seminary students to pray, I insist that they find a place to do this apart from their home, workplace, car, iPad, and cell phone. Like, e.g., up a tree.
Jesus found "lonely places," away from people and distractions, to pray. In the history of Christian spirituality, serious praying was mostly done in "lonely places" such as, e.g., the desert.
The experience of prayer, of being alone with God, just you and Him, is different when you are not surrounded by your friends and all your stuff.
I like what James Houston writes: "Prayer is the determination to be alone before God, with no gallery to play to and no distracting comparisons to make." (The Transforming Power of Prayer: Deepening Your Friendship with God, 21)
I like what James Houston writes: "Prayer is the determination to be alone before God, with no gallery to play to and no distracting comparisons to make." (The Transforming Power of Prayer: Deepening Your Friendship with God, 21)
