The Joys of Solitude 

   “Solitude can be very rewarding and full of blessing because in the silence of the inner being, one finds God.” (Fulton J. Sheen, “The Wisdom of Fulton Sheen”) 

   Since my wife is now at home with God my life at home is pretty much a life of silence and solitude.  For a while the silence was painful to me.  In order to combat the loneliness I would keep the television on just to have some noise in the house.

   As time passed, however, I came to love the solitude and the silence.  I began to see it as a time to come to know my Lord better; to seek Him and His will in all that I do.  The solitude is beneficial to communing with God, to spending quiet time with the One who loves me unceasingly and completely and to offer my love to Him even though I can never love Him as He loves me.  One of the things I look forward to in heaven is being able to love Him with the purity and completeness with which He loves me.

   I am not a hermit, I’ve not closeted myself in my own personal monastery.  I very much enjoy and look forward to seeing my family and friends and spending time with them.  As humans we need the support from others whom we love and who love us.  Still, I am drawn more and more to the quiet times with God. 

   One of my favorite prayers is, “Dear Lord, when shall I be completely one with You and entirely forgetful of self?  You in me and I in You; grant that we may be always so and remain as one forever.”  I don’t know if I can ever be completely one with Him in this lifetime, but I can surely come nearer to Him in the silence and solitude.