Solitude and Christ

First of all, happy late Canada Day to my Canadian friends, happy early Independence Day to my American friends and... happy days to my international friends!

Last week, the weather in Toronto was amazing. We officially entered into the summer season and it kicked off with temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s. Simply great.

Knowing ahead of time that it was going to be blazing hot, I planned a few trips to the beach. Lake Ontario is about a 25 minute walk from my house, so I decided that this would be a good opportunity to catch in some sun, meditate and re-focus myself as the summer season begins. So I walked down by myself on Monday and Thursday, with a backpack that contained a towel, a book, a water bottle and my iPod. I got to the sands, laid down, napped, woke up, prayed and just thought about life. On my iPod, I was listening to the sermons of one of my favourite preachers. I reflected on the message and prayed some more. I left each time feeling so much more rejuvenated and motivated, not for myself, but for Him.

Sunday came along and I went to the church service that evening. I don't believe in luck or coincidence, so it was even more interesting that the topic of the sermon was on solitude and Christ. The basis of the sermon was on Mark 1:35-39.

I think going away from the city and away from our everyday lives are important things. It's such an innate desire, that being Christians or not, we love going away on vacations or taking weekends off at the cottage. It's just a good way of clearing our minds of all the crap in our lives sometimes. Jesus especially knew that this was important and you can easily find instances where he'd tend towards a solitary place for prayer. As Christians, it's important for us to make and find the time to spend alone with God, to refocus our minds and our goals on Him, and away from the distractions of the normal life.

But sometimes when we say to ourselves that we're going to spend some time alone from God, how truly alone are we? Are we alone enough that we're free from stuff like cell phones, Blackberries, emails, and text messages? Or are we lying to ourselves?

There are 168 hours in the week. If you sleep for 8 hours a day and work 40 hours a week, you're left with 72 hours of free time. So I ask you, how many of those hours are you spending alone in Christ and in prayer. I challenge you my brothers and sisters, to make the time. We can't be so caught up in our every day lives. We do need to make that time to adjust ourselves back on God's path. And when you make that time for Him, make it really for Him. Don't anchor yourself down with cell phones or other communication devices. I know it's tough, but I don't think it's impossible if you really want to make the time. I know you'll be better for it and I know that God will bless you for it.