A few years ago I spent four days backpacking in the Dolly Sods Wilderness Area of West Virginia. I needed time alone with God.
The next week my wife Paula spent five days in the guest house of a Trappist Monastery. She needed the same thing.
Time alone with God is vital. But in today’s world it’s hard to come by.
Of course, it doesn’t need to be four or five days at a time. A little time every day, a little more time once a week, can make a huge difference.
Henri Nouwen tells of his visit to Mother Teresa. He poured out his concern that his life and spirituality were inadequate. Her response was this: “When you spend one hour a day adoring your Lord and never do anything which you know is wrong, you will be fine.”
Wow!
The first part reminds me of St. John of the Cross, who would spend hours gazing at things that drew him to God. The second part sounds like John Wesley’s definition of Christian perfection: when you are not committing any known sin, and everything you do is done in love.
God is love, and he made us to share his love. When two people love each other, they love to be alone together.
Your time alone with God doesn’t have to be four or five days, and it doesn’t have to be a wilderness or monastery. It can be your car, if you can turn off the radio. It can be your house before anyone else wakes up, if you can ignore the internet. It can be your church when nobody else is there. It can be your basement or back yard or a closet. Wherever it’s just you and God is fine.
Lovers find a way to sneak off and be alone together. (Cue Tommy James and the Shondells, “I think we’re alone now…”) There’s no special place or method. Just get alone with God.
And listen.
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