A Prayer for Solitude and Faithful Friends

And Jesus went to quiet places by himself to pray. (Luke 5:16)

A faithful friend is the medicine of life. (Ecclesiasticus 6:16)

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 for the humility to accept the gracious touch of another.

In gratitude we recognize that your Spirit of care for us

trumps our 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.

By Virgil Fry