Jesus wanted his followers to take time to rest. They were exhausted from the constant crowds and the pleas and the expectations. Jesus knew they needed time away to physically, emotionally, and spiritually regenerate.
So do we. We get exhausted from all the people shifting in and out of our lives, the gossiping, the noise, the tight, over-full schedules, the constant electronic devices. Life itself often keeps us from being alone until we fall exhausted into bed at night.
But the main impediment to taking time for personal healthy aloneness can be ourselves.
Sometimes I feel guilty taking time for myself, especially at home. I look at piles of unfolded laundry, rugs to vacuum, and ask myself if I should take time to just "veg." But I know if I keep going, I'm going to be pushing myself too hard. I need time to myself to collapse quietly with a good book. Or crossword puzzle.
We also need time to be alone and "veg" with God. But we're not as used to that. I used to give retreats and help with retreats. I discovered that if I asked people at some point to go off by themselves, and read a reflection sheet, and pray, the most time that I could ask them to be alone was fifteen or twenty minutes.
We're used to praying to God with rosaries or praying as a community in Church. But silent time with God, not necessarily talking, is a different way of being with God. Just like sitting next to a lover or friend in companionable silence is a different way of being together.
There are times in life when I've been silent in awe - and God's been there. Hearing my husband-to-be say "I love you" for the first time. Sitting in a hospital bed holding my new-born baby, gazing down at his or her face for the first time. Quietly saying prayers to God, and suddenly going silent, overcome, because I feel such love for God or I can sense God's overwhelming love for me. Yes, there are times in our lives when only silence suffices because what is happening is beyond the power of words to express.
Solitary time spent in a beautiful place, with God's gift of Nature, gives us an opportunity to not speak so God can communicate with us. Or to pray by simply silently thanking God for Nature's beauty. I love the silence of a walk in the woods where the only sound is trees whispering, or by a seashore, listening to the rhythmic sounds of the waves. I rest in the silence of sitting in our backyard, listening to the birds and watching squirrels scampering along tree branches.
Walking or sitting in silence with Nature, observing its majestic cycles, keeps me from having an inflated ego, shows me that we are each only a speck in the life of the Universe. How can I feel puffed up with pride and self-importance when I gaze up at the massive sides of a snow-capped mountain?
Sitting under a tree that has lived for hundreds of years reminds me of the brevity of my life, and encourages me to truly deliberately live every moment. Quietly watching a cascading waterfall in awe fills me with the beauty of God's natural cathedral that He has given us to enjoy.
Mother Teresa says "We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence...we need silence to be able to touch souls." Especially, to first touch our own soul, and discover how beautiful it is and also how empty it is, waiting to be touched and filled by God.
Going to Church gives us opportunities for silent prayer. Some people like to come early, just to sit in silence with God. At the beginning of Mass, the priest asks us to pause for a moment and think of any sins that may be keeping us from complete friendship with God.
When the Scriptures are read, in the silence of pondering a passage from Scripture, we find God speaking to us. In Lector training, lectors are asked to pause after proclaiming a Scripture reading at Mass to allow the congregation time to think in silence about what God is saying to each one of them that day in that reading.
As a lector, I know it takes discipline to take time to be silent, when everyone is looking at you, waiting for you to go on. But pausing teaches everyone that this is indeed the Word of God, waiting to change our lives if our souls take silent time to absorb these Holy Words.
After Communion, the priest sits for a few moments to allow people to silently think in awe and wonder about the tremendous Gift of Jesus that they've been given.
It's being alone in silence, alone with ourselves, alone with Nature, or alone with God in prayer, that we can rest and regenerate. Often we can discover that God - Reality - is larger than ourselves and our own limited perspectives. God's gift of silent rest, God's love and peace, are necessary for us, more Real han the passing preoccupations and pettiness of a noisy, work-day world that will pass away.
Love and peace are ours - if we can take time to be alone and still so God can speak.