Thursday, May 12, 2016

Tozer: solitude

Thursday, May 12, 2016
    Commemoration of Aiden Wilson Tozer, Spiritual Writer, 1963
Meditation:
    Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still.
    —Psalm 4:4 (KJV)
Quotation:
    Modern civilization is so complex as to make the devotional life all but impossible. It wears us out by multiplying distractions and beats us down destroying our solitude, where otherwise we might drink and renew our strength, before going out to face the world again.
    “The thoughtful soul to solitude retires,” said the poet * of other and quieter times; but where is the solitude to which we can retire today? ... “Commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still,” is a wise and healing counsel; but how can it be followed in this day of the newspaper, the telephone, the radio and the television? These modern playthings, like pet tiger cubs, have grown so large and dangerous that they threaten to devour us all. What was intended to be a blessing has become a positive curse. No spot is now safe from the world’s intrusion...
    The need for solitude and quietness was never greater than it is today. What the world will do about it is their problem. Apparently the masses want it the way it is, and the majority of Christians are so completely conformed to this present age that they, too, want things the way they are. They may be annoyed a bit by the clamor and by the goldfish-bowl existence they live, but apparently they are not annoyed enough to do anything about it.
* from Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, stanza IV
    ... A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), Of God and Men, Harrisburg, Penn.: Christian Publications, Inc., 1960, p. 103,105 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 4:4; 46:10; Hab. 2:20; Zech 2:13; Mark 1:35; Luke 4:42; 6:12; John 6:15
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, grant me stillness, that I might hear You.
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