September 30, 2007
"Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, Jesus said to his disciples, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest'" (Mark 6:31).
Today was one of those days in church that I just wanted to curl up in a quiet corner. I was overwhelmed with the entity known as corporate worship. The low hum of whispers. The tiny chatter of children. The zipping of bags and rustling of bulletins. The out-of-sync bass and--most jarring of all--the carillon of the organ during communion. 'Most any other Sunday and I would have soaked it all in. But today I needed to be in a quiet place: a corner, the beach, the mountains.
There are times when corporate worship is too much for me. My soul yearns for solitude. In Sunday School we studied Psalm 23, and that the picture I hung onto was of resting on the grass by the river, just breathing in the good, clean air.
Next weekend we are headed to the mountains. I need them. It is in the musty smells of the forest, the feel of wood and soil, the sounds of birds and crickets where I can be truly still. Where I can listen, and hear, and breathe. And worship.
I concider myself a quietist too. Do you have '100 Days in the Secret Place' by Gene Edwards? It's a book of writings of Molinos, Fenelon, and Guyon. He referres to them as 'quietist's', thats where I got the term. Standing on the shores of the Pacific Coast is where I feel closest to God. I would choose it any day over the a church service. Don't get me wrong I love to be with the Body, especially worshipping, but I understand what you are saying and that need to be in the meadow or forest, that place of where no sounds of man can be heard.
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