Mgr Kieran Heskin, Sacred Heart Church, Ilkley

IT is second nature to many of us to turn on the radio as soon as we awake in the morning and as soon as we get in the car so that we can keep in touch with what’s happening in the world. We may admire solitude and silence in the abstract, but when it comes to incorporating it in our day-to-day lives, we often take evasive action.

Solitude and silence are however important ingredients in life because we human beings are not only social and gregarious; we are also individuals. We live in bodies that are separated from other bodies. We have our own individual personalities, needs, talents and responsibilities. Through both social collaboration and solitary isolation we make our way through the years allotted to us: each fulfilling or failing to fulfil our unique possibilities.

Socially, there has never been a time when people were more connected to one another. Modern technology has made this possible but is there not a need to take a stance against the ever increasing pervasiveness of modern technology, to say: “thus far, no further, we need time to be alone, time for ourselves in isolation, time for solitude”?

Solitude, time alone, is necessary for self discovery, for self examination, for looking at life and for clearing unwanted inner debris. Solitude can provide an opportunity for contemplation and for growth in personal spirituality. It can create an awareness of the powerful presence of God.

In solitude and silence, the individual can realize in a very striking way that they have come from God, that at the end of life they will return to God and that in between those times God is always with them, closer than they often realize. They can experience God as God, as the one who alone can satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart: that they are meant for God, and only in God will they find rest.

Jesus was very conscious of the importance of solitude and silence as he lived his earthly life. He went into the desert for forty days before embarking on his public ministry and, during the course of his ministry, he rose before dawn and went off to deserted places to be alone and to pray.

Solitude can benefit the mental health of all its practitioners: those with religious leanings and those without.