"And
Jesus went to quiet places by himself to pray."
(Luke 5:16)
" A faithful friend is the medicine of
life."
(Ecclesiastes 6:16)
A Prayer for Solitude and Faithful Friends
Yahweh God,
Creator of all humans,
You give personal uniqueness to each of us,
while forming us to need others as
community.
We vacillate, Lord, between two extremes:
Fierce individualism and
sought-for interdependency.
At times, we seek and need time alone,
Time to unplug from the multiple voices
within and without.
At times, we seek and need spiritual
companions,
Those who fill in our emptiness and
hold our confidences.
For our struggling muddied thoughts
and complicated inner desires
demand these two responses:
time alone with You, countered with
the caring touch of others
who share laughter birthed in absurdity,
who dry stinging tears birthed in futility.
How rich is your Word, overflowing
with stories of faithful battered pilgrims who
found respite in solitude and with friends,
seekers like:
Moses
and Joshua,
Hannah and Eli,
David and Jonathan,
Elijah and the widow,
Jesus and Martha, Mary and Lazarus,
Paul and Timothy.
So our prayer this day, Lord,
is for the ability to discern our
biggest spiritual void—
Whether for the good sense to
pull away for awhile,
or the humility to accept the gracious
touch of another.
In gratitude we recognize that your
Spirit of care for us
trumps our greatest fear,
the fear of being abandoned and alone.
And we ask that we be caringly sensitive,
open to walk alongside others whose
needs are equivalent to ours,
those who yearn for similar wisdom and
friendship.
Amen
—Virgil Fry
