Aloneness gets a bad rap in our day. We equate aloneness with loneliness, yet it’s possible to be alone without being lonely. Aloneness is not loneliness when we are in the company of God. One danger of so much online connectivity is the temptation to avoid solitude. Dietrich Bonhoeffer offered this insight in Life Together, “Let him who cannot be alone beware of community…Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.” There are pitfalls in either direction. God intended community and solitude to complement each other. The company of other people can correct our distorted self-perceptions, while solitude gives God time and space to do deep work in us.
People in church history who lived the solitary life (called anchorites or anchoresses) have something to teach us. Richard Rolle (1300-1349) was a nineteen-year-old student at the University of Oxford, England who left his promising scholastic career to pursue solitude. After years of living alone for purposes of prayer, he wrote about the virtues of solitude in his book, The Fire of Love, “People do not approve of a solitary life because they know nothing about it…I do not doubt that if they did in fact have some knowledge of the solitary life, they would be praising it…A man is alone indeed if God is not with him…He who for God’s sake has chosen the solitary life and lives it properly, knows not so much woe as wonderful strength.” Solitude can be a source of strength. The adage, “Don’t knock it until you try it” is essentially Richard’s counsel. He leads us in prayer today:
Richard Rolle
O Holy God, in whom is all goodness,
whose pity and mercy made Thee to descend from the high throne
down into this world,
the valley of woe and weeping,
and here to take our nature,
and in that nature to suffer pain and death,
to bring our souls to Thy Kingdom.
Merciful Lord,
forgive us all our sins that we have done, thought, and said.
O glorious Trinity,
cleanse our hearts and purify our souls.
Restore us with Thy Holy Spirit,
and strengthen us with Thy might,
that we may always withstand evil temptations.
Comfort us with Thy Holy Spirit
And fulfill us with grace and charity,
that we may henceforth live virtuously
and love you with all our heart,
with all our might, and with all our soul,
so that we may never offend Thee,
but ever follow your pleasure
in will, word, thought, and deed.
Now grant us this, good, infinite Lord,
which eternally shall endure,
through Jesus Christ Thy Son.
Amen.
Prayers of the Middle Ages, Edited by J. Manning Potts
Richard Rolle, The Fire of Love.
Rev. Dr. Peter James served 42 years as the senior of Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, VA — 21 years in the 20th century and 21 years in the 21st century. He retired in 2021 and now serves as Pastor-in-Residence at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Even as a pastor, prayer came slowly to Pete. Read Pete’s story.