"Solitude is primarily about setting aside time to be alone with God, to feel God's very presence. Nouwen is quick to state, 'Our first task in solitude is to simply allow ourselves to become aware of the divine presence, to "Be still, and know that I am God" (Discernment:10). For the Christian, solitude is not just about visiting a wilderness spot or being on a mountaintop to be privately disengaged from everything else. More than anything it has to do with 'daring to stand in God's presence. Not to guard time simply to be alone, but alone in God's company' (Turn My Mourning into Dancing:76)
"At the same time, solitude certainly involves more than that. For through solitude we come face-to-face not only with God but with our true self as well. In fact, it is precisely in the light of God's presence that we can see ourselves for who we really are. That said, solitude encompasses a kind of double transformative encounter: with ourselves and with God – often even simultaneously.
"In solitude, we not only encounter God but come to know ourselves in our truth."
— Clowning in Rome
"Every conversion, from our vantage point, starts with seeing, with our capacity to view ourselves the way God views us. Entailed in this is our resolve to squarely face our core identity in God. Solitude is decidedly that context in which we come to realize our true self. 'It is the place where we take a few moments in quiet before God to see who we are in relationship to God and to each other' (Clowning in Rome:19) The focus is on our inner being. Often in life we get preoccupied with doing and having while conveniently neglecting the primacy of our being. Henri Nouwen calls attention to the fact that the place of solitude is where 'we discover that being is more important than having, that we are worth more than the result of our efforts – that our worth is not the same as our usefulness' (Out of Solitude:22). In God's eyes, we are eternally loved whether we are productive or not. Never is performance the measure of our value and acceptance before God. From the world's perspective, of course, performance is what counts – and we can easily succumb to that belief. Nouwen advises, 'When we enter into solitude we will often hear these two voices – the voice of the world and the voice of the Lord – pulling us in two contrary directions. But if we keep returning faithfully to the place of solitude, the voice of the Lord will gradually become stronger' (Peacework:45).
"Solitude is the place where we go in order to hear the truth about ourselves."
— Beloved
"Henri Nouwen admonishes those of us whose identities are hidden in God to learn what it means to courageously enter into the place of solitude empty-handed, with our inner spaces devoid of overoccupation (The Selfless Way of Christ:85; cf. Reaching Out:73ff.). We would do well to consciously open up space in our hearts, making ourselves ready to receive whatever it is God may pour in. Most importantly, it becomes imperative that we develop a heart transparent enough to be able to see God and ourselves through the same lens."
