Last evening's sunset was a lovely surprise. The day had been mostly cloudy with very light snow most of the morning. Temperature did not go above 29. A nice, quiet exit.
"Survivors of solitude" is what John O'Donohue calls contemplatives in his very good book on Celtic spirituality, "Anam Cara." That phrase is a terrific insight into solitude and into its value for the contemplative life.
True solitude involves silence, which the author says is one of the great victims of modern culture. He says, "One of the reasons so many people are suffering from stress is not that they are doing stressful things but that they allow so little time for silence. A fruitful solitude without silence and space is inconceivable."
Thankfully, I live in an area that provides the space and silence, but there are still a lot of different sounds that I can turn on. I want to be a survivor of solitude.
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