Christianity and Solitude

“The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.” — Isaiah xxxv. i.

That was a new experience for the men of the old world. For them the only gladness was to live in company. There was no life but social life. The individual man was afraid to be alone. He was afraid of Jacob’s angel; he feared to wrestle with his own conscience; he dreaded the spectre of the past; he shrank from the memory of his yesterday; he trembled to meet Esau. And when he was forced to go into the wilderness, it was awful to him. When sickness laid him aside he became despairing. He often refused to wait for the natural course of death — he ran to meet it; he could not bear a solitary burden; he could bear a burden along with multitudes — in the camp or in the field. But, wnen the multitude was gone, when the brethren had departed, when the night came and he was left alone, then indeed he cried aloud.

Lord, Thou hast lighted Thy candle in the silent room. Thou hast made it possible for me to sit alone beneath the stars without saying, “How dreadful is this place!” Thou hast reconciled me to myself — to my own company; nay, rather. Thou hast reconciled me to Thine. It was fear to meet Thee made me dread to be alone. But now Thou hast lifted the veil, and lo! the wrestling angel is a man! I thought Thee foreign to my soul, and lo! Thy name is Love! I thought the curtains of my sick-bed were a cloud upon Thy brow, and lo! they are the drapery of a ladder that ascends to Thy smile! I thought the pain of the shrunk sinew was a sign of Thine anger, and lo! it is a fetter to keep me in Thy love! Thou hast blest me in my solitude. I halted one day upon my thigh. I could not run with the crowd; I could not keep up with the multitude. I lagged behind; I missed my chance in the race; I was left alone. I was sad; I was sore at heart;

I murmured. But I was wrong. That houi of loneliness has been my most crowded hour. It has been crowded with Thy blessings; it has been loaded with Thy benefits; it has been redolent with Thy flowers. Thy flowers have sprung up in the night. Their perfume has been wafted through the desert. Their soil has been the place of the old garbage, where all useless things once were thrown. Its name is Gethsemane. It looks a cheerless spot, and the multitude pass by it. But those who enter it shall hear the sound of singing, and those who abide in it shall wear the red blossom of sacrifice.