Solitude Is A Gift To Our Community
“You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.” Matthew 5:14-15 NRSV
We should not hide the inward transformation in our souls from our public lives. "What we live in the most intimate places of our beings is not just for us but for all people. That is why our inner lives are lives for others. That is why solitude is a gift to our community, and that is why our most secret thoughts affect our common life." (1)
Our inner lives need the strength found in true community to keep our light burning bright. Likewise, our communities need us to bring our gift born out of solitude to "give light to all in the house." We should not be people living double lives.
Are you one person in private and a different person in public?
If so, remove the "bushel basket" hiding your lamp so that the world around you can see the light of Christ burning bright inside of you.
Notes:
(1) Henri Nouwen, Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith (New York, NY, HarperCollins Publishers, 1997)
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