Of course, very few of us live in monasteries or cloisters and can afford to spend much time in solitude. Or can we? In Ralph Martin’s excellent book, The Fulfillment of All Desire, he says this:

“For lay people this ‘greater solitude’ can involve reducing or eliminating certain entertainments or activities that aren’t necessary or are excessive, such as time spent in passive media exposure like watching TV, listening to the radio, reading the newspaper, playing computer games, reading novels, listening to music, card-playing, watching sports, and so on. It can also involve decisions to increase times of prayer, spiritual reading, participation in the liturgy, taking periodic ‘retreat days,’ and the like.” (Paragraph 306)

The reason I deleted the social-media apps from my phone a number of years ago was because perusing posts had become a repetitive, fruitless endeavor and a waste of time. Social media posts may not be evil in themselves, but they are certainly a distraction and can even become an addiction.

The interior tabernacle

In the bustle of life, is it possible to be at peace? Is it possible to have interior solitude even in the midst of noise?

One way to avoid falling into the trap is to be self-aware, to monitor our thoughts and words and actions, to find that inner place of peace and quiet and solitude, and, as it were, carry it about with us. As St. Paul cautions us: “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” 2 Cor 10:5

This is what it means to live life in God’s presence, as though we had a tabernacle within us. It’s a useful practice to step aside from the day’s events from time to time and recollect ourselves interiorly, even for only a few seconds.

Reading our way to heaven

Another way that we can remain connected to the Lord is through spiritual reading. Instead of spending hours watching TV or on the computer, why not spend half an hour — or even 10 or 15 minutes — every day reading the lives of the saints, scripture, or some other encouraging spiritual writing. This is not just so that we can check it off the list as though it were an onerous duty that we had to reluctantly perform. It’s so that we feed our minds with things that direct us towards God and the love of God, to counteract all the worldly influences that we are exposed to, day after day.

The hound of heaven

The Lord has created us to spend time with him, but don’t we always play hard to get? It’s difficult for him to reach us if we surround ourselves with constant distractions and noise. St. Ignatius of Loyola says that “God is constantly trying to break into our lives with love.” Not with condemnation or heavy burdens that we cannot bear, but with love.

God is to be found in silence.

In the first book of Kings, chapter 19, God tells Elijah that he is going to reveal himself to him:

“Then the Lord said, ‘Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still, small voice. So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.”

The Lord speaks to us in a still, small voice and if we surround ourselves with noise, either within or without, how will we ever hear him? Let’s carve out space in our lives to find solitude in which the Lord can speak to us. Let’s remove the shell of noise that surrounds us and allow Him to break into our lives with love.