Becoming Rooted in Solitude

Recently I saw an intriguing video on Facebook about unusual ways to start growing plants indoors (https://www.facebook.com/TexasDecoration/videos/518358009087822/). For example, a cutting from an aloe vera plant starts rooting when it is inserted in a banana; chickpeas begin sprouting when inserted in a used teabag; and a potato cutting starts to develop roots when it is placed eye down on top of the water in a fish tank.

An anchorite's cell attached to a church in Wales

Similarly, humans can set down spiritual roots in a number of different environments, such as their families, worship communities, and monasteries. However, as with plants, a period of waiting in isolation and darkness is required for our roots to grow deep and become firmly established. Persons throughout human history demonstrate this need for an extended period of solitude to grow in the life and love of God: Jesus in the desert, St. Benedict in his cave, Julian of Norwich in her cell, and Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela in jail.

Solitude is important because, as Jeanne Weber, OSB, notes, it leads to the fruit of “deepening awareness of God and deepening knowledge of the self.” She observes, “Only by creating regular time and space for silence and solitude can we come to know ourselves and get in touch with the movements and motivations of our hearts, especially those that aren’t all goodness and light, and open them to the deep source of healing and life whom we call God.”

In the early days of sheltering at home during the pandemic, most of us have responded by seeking distraction: watching TV and movies, obsessively scanning social media outlets, reading novels, cooking, cleaning out closets, etc. As days stretch into weeks, perhaps we can settle into

a rhythm of silence, rest, prayer, journaling, and deepening knowledge of ourselves so we can emerge from our hibernation with enhanced wisdom and recalibration of our priorities: to share God’s life and love through prayer and service to others in need.