Chris McDonnell: Different places
From the crowded city streets to the busy town hall square, from the local village community to the crofter’s moorland cottage we find human beings going about their business. Some have travelled the short distance from home to shop to collect the family groceries, others are making a full day of it visiting big stores rarely seen. All in someway are on the move.
It is no wonder then that we often hear the phrase “I would just like some time to myself”. Let’s explore some of the words that we might use. We talk of “being alone,” of “enjoying our own company”, of “experiencing solitude”. We speak of “peace and quiet”, of “time with a good book”, of having “an early night to catchup with sleep”, of “time to doze in a comfortable fireside chair” and many other such phrases, all of describing a state we find relaxing and enjoyable.
But not all of them are equivalent.
Time ‘to myself’ can lead to loneliness unless it is directed, has some purpose, leads us somewhere. We seek to disconnect in a positive way. Being alone can offer real opportunity to make ourselves available to others, it can create a space that others can occupy without feeling obtrusive, a time to listen, a time to be.
In such times, God is with us. Too often in our noisy and cluttered world we do not listen because we cannot hear. Lost in a cacophony of sound we drift from one task to another, unable to focus with any purpose and end up achieving very little. For some are disturbed by silence, without a background buzz, they feel uncomfortable, ill at ease.
There is the evident need for rest and relaxation, taking time to care for oneself. Who cares for the carers? Nobody can give all the time without being replenished. Times of prayer are such times, when we seek renewal in the gift of God, be it in uttering of familiar phrases, the repetition of a few words or the silent attention of our stillness.
Mark, at the beginning of his gospel, tells us that early in the morning Jesus went out alone to seek a time for prayer. There is a stillness in the hours of sunrise, a stillness that encourages our body to be at rest, to be focused, a time of recollection before the work of the day. Value the gift of time to listen and to be.
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