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Find the Quiet Places
Aku Nyakutse, student
Macalester College

Something that has always struck me about people today is how afraid they are of being alone or, more accurately, of being seen alone. This is also combined with a fear of silence. Nowadays we all do our best to get rid of silence. We hold meaningless conversations over dinner, have our radios blasting whenever we are in our rooms and generally feel ill at ease when we are forced to endure periods of quiet.

For me, solitude and silence are very important parts of life, and without them I would probably become mentally unstable. Silence allows me to reflect, to relax, to really look into my heart and see what is there. Sometimes I am afraid of what I see but I look at it anyway because only by acknowledging that sin exists can I pray about it and move on.

Solitude and loneliness are two very different conditions. Solitude is a state of physically being alone, while loneliness is more a state of emotional separation. I believe that the true strength of a person can be seen in their reaction to solitude. Can you sit at a table alone in the cafeteria when other people are sitting in groups and feel truly comfortable? Or do you at least need to be seen as part of a group? Why do you react the way you do?

Please don’t get me wrong. I am not advocating that we all decide to ignore our friends in the quest for personal growth through solitude. By no means! Nor should we be deliberately rude or make a habit of being antisocial. Community is very important to those of us who are a part of God’s family. All I am saying is that Jesus took time out to be alone, to pray, to renew his strength. He generally went to quiet places and he went alone. Can we really expect to need less?