When I say the words silence and solitude, do those words conjure up scary, uncomfortable thoughts for you? Or, do those words create a peace in you?

Well, according to the weekly journal Nature, “Given the choice, many people would rather give themselves mild electric shock than sit still idly in a room for 15 minutes”.

Yes, you read that correctly! In an experiment at the University of Virginia, school psychologist Timothy Wilson asked 409 undergrads to sit alone without cell phones, books, or any other kind of entertainment for 15 minutes. Nearly half found this to be unpleasant. To quote Nature, “In the next experiment, participants were given a small electric shock–akin to a jolt of static electricity–that was so unpleasant that three-quarters of them said they would be willing to pay not to experience the shock again.”

So, the next round of the experiment comes and participants were sitting in the room again, “alone with their thoughts, 67% of male participants and 25% of female subjects were so eager to find something to do that they shocked themselves voluntarily.”

And the July 16th Breakpoint commentary says this wasn’t just college kids. The experiment was repeated with a broader age group sampled from a church and a farmer’s market.

So, let me ask you again–are you scared of silence and solitude? Apparently, many are.

Let me give you some quotes that will challenge you to spend some time this week in silence and solitude.

“In solitude we remove ourselves from the siren calls and illusions of our society and wrestle with the need for ongoing transformation as we meet with the Lord.” (Ken Boa from Conformed to His Image)

“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community…Let him who is not in community beware of being alone.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer from Life Together)

“Extended times spent in solitude can be frightening, since they remove our external props and force us to confront sinful and selfish attitudes and behaviors. Such times can make us uncomfortably vulnerable before God, but this is as it should be, since this process drives us to the grace, forgiveness, and love of Christ. The purgation of solitude diminishes arrogance and autonomy and fosters humility and trust. As this discipline moves us in the direction of greater Christlikeness, ministry to others becomes an extension of our being.” (Ken Boa from Conformed to His Image)

Your challenge this week is simple–although maybe a little scary! Spent some time alone with your thoughts this week. If you can’t do 15 minutes without wanting to shock yourself then start with just a few. Lay yourself before Jesus and let your relationship with Him grow! This is the only place true peace comes from!

More to come…
Jeremy