Solitude

We have so much now days. We own so much, we have so much to do, our lives are flooded with options ... almost too many perhaps. Yet, in our world of people, work, cars, television, movies, cell phones, crowds and the like the one thing many of us lack is solitude. It’s just plain old hard to be alone without any distractions. We seek out quiet little corners, but life always seems to follow us into them and, social creatures though we are, there is something inherent in our makeup which craves aloneness. A certain level of tranquility can only be reached in those moments. While some folks have a ability to just shut everything off and retreat mentally, but most of us need to flee farther afield. Whatever it takes, we must learn to somehow slip off and bask in solitude once in a while. Life can get so busy that we often can’t even hear ourselves think, but once we bring ourselves into the quiet we can finally begin to hear the voices of our own hearts ... perhaps even the voice of God.

Solitude
There is comfort here, in solitude
Upon the barren hill
Where my mind can wander undisturbed
And none may bend my will
There is peacefulness within the clouds
And in the ancient stone
Which is only know by him
Who finds himself here, all alone
There is wisdom in the counsel
Of the sunset and the trees
The quiet voice of solitude
Can put a man at ease
To think the deeper thoughts of life
And ponder what could be
As the silence echoes back his thoughts
So he can clearly see
Far beyond the grey horizon
And above the human din
Where he can hear the words unspoken
By the still, small voice within
            By Frank Carpenter ©