Lent 2021: A Story to Live BySample

Finding your Eremos

Reflection:

No devotional would be complete without a quote from an Ancient Greek philosopher, so here we go: ‘Beware the barrenness of a busy life.’

It’s from Socrates. And if he felt that he needed to say that nearly two and a half thousand years ago, imagine how he would feel looking at our society today.

Busyness has become a badge of honour. Frantic is the new normal. Distracted is now our default setting. 

It’s time to resist. If we are to thrive – mentally, physically, spiritually – then we must resist.

And the primary weapon in our insurrection? Eremos. This is the word translated in today’s verse as ‘wilderness’. But it encapsulates far more than that: it is a place of solitude. A place where we can get away from the bright lights and relentless noise of the modern world. A place where it is only us and God.

Think of how you can create some eremos in your life today. This doesn’t need to be the literal wilderness. What spaces and times can you carve out in order to slip away and be with your God?

Prayer:

Dear God, we thank you for stillness. We thank you for silence. We thank you for solitude. May they increase in our lives. Amen.

Author: Gideon Heugh