Solitude is very different from a 'time-out' from our busy lives. Solitude is the very ground from which community grows. Whenever we pray alone, study, read, write, or simply spend quiet time away from the places where we interact with each other directly, we are potentially opened for a deeper intimacy with each other.

Related Quotes

Fear is the great enemy of intimacy. Fear makes us run away from each other or cling to each other but does not create true intimacy.

— Henri Nouwen

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I have an increasing sense that the most important crisis of our time is spiritual and that we need places where people can grow stronger in the spirit and be able to integrate the emotional struggles in their spiritual journeys.

— Henri Nouwen

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We need quiet time to examine our lives openly and honestly - spending quiet time alone gives your mind an opportunity to renew itself and create order.

— Susan L. Taylor

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It's important to have quiet time and isolation.

— John Burnside

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Peacemaking is a full-time vocation that includes each member of God's people.

— Henri Nouwen

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