Every prison movie has one – a scene where the hero is sent to “the hole” – solitary confinement. This scene is always accompanied with ominous music as the prisoner is place, often kicked and screaming, in his tiny dungeon. Days or weeks later, he emerges scruffy and grizzled. The hole a harrowing experience.

Solitude can be a scary thing. Often it is accompanied by the spiritual discipline of silence, forming a particularly daunting tag team. Yet solitude can be a very important practice that aids our spiritual development. Jesus himself frequently shunned crowds and sent his closest friends away, seeking out opportunities to be alone with his Father God.

For a whole host of reasons – our schedules and commitments, the TV, the allure of our beds -we don’t practice the discipline of solitude very often. The very things that scare us about solitude are the things that make is such a powerful tool.

Solitude allows us to think, but often we don’t like being alone with our thoughts. Aloneness gives us a chance to focus. We live in an ADHD culture where we are constantly bombarded with images and messages that are seeking to shape our values. Undiscerningly, we get duped into believing lies because we don’t have the time to evaluate them. Solitude rips us out of hectic rat race and forces us to face what we think, what we value, what we believe.

Solitude makes me be with me, the authentic me. I am not always the authentic me. Sometimes at work, I play a part. Sometimes at home, I play a part. Sometimes at church, I play a part. In all the different contexts of my life, it is easy to slip into a role. The authentic me is sometimes sacrificed for ease and comfort’s sake. And I don’t always like the authentic me.

In solitude, I have no audience and so I have no need to play a part. It is the authentic me .. and God. When I am the authentic me, I have the chance to be honest and humble. When it’s just me and God, I can be painfully honest about my struggles and doubts. When it’s just me and God, I can be humble about my achievements and lack thereof. God knows who I really am. And in the solitude, I can admit that I know too.

This kind of honesty and humility is what faith is all about. And so the chief benefit of solitude for me is that it produces faith.

Faith to be courageous when I’m tempted to be afraid.
Faith to be obedient when I’m tempted to be rebellious.
Faith to be reliant when I’m tempted to be self-sufficient.
Faith to be daring when I’m tempted to be reticent.
Faith to be a leader when I’m tempted to do nothing.
Faith to be open when I’m tempted to be reserved.

I cannot be who God wants me to be without relationship with other people. However, I cannot be who God wants me to be without periodically taking the time to be myself by myself.

So, during this month of spiritual discipline, let me encourage you to try solitude. Take a walk by yourself without your iPod or cellphone. Take a drive with the radio off. Get up early and have a cup of coffee in the darkness. Be yourself in the solitude and see what it does for your faith.

Vintage Fellowship is an emerging church serving Northwest Arkansas from Fayetteville AR. Their current series on spiritual disciplines is called There’s An App For That.