DR. AGNES MARTINKO Solitude proves to be productive

After Christ was baptized by St. John the Baptist, Matthew tells us in 4:1 that Jesus was led by the spirit out into the desert where he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights before beginning his public ministry.
During the 40 days of Lent preceding the feast of the resurrection Easter Sunday, Christians withdraw from unnecessary public events and limit food intake in memory of Christ's time in the desert. It is a time of increased solitude spent in prayer and reflection on our own spiritual progress.
Our lives are a mix of time alone and time spent with others. This pattern varies among individuals: Some are more or less naturally extroverted or introverted and we all have occupations and interests that require different amounts of time spent alone or with others. But, when faced with big decisions or confronted with grave circumstances, we tend to spend more time alone thinking about the situation and praying for strength and guidance to make the right choices.
During Lent, the time spent in reflection is concerned with our relationship to God and in discerning ways in which we can fine tune the direction of our life to be of greater service to others.
What writers say
Lambros Kamperidis, a Canadian historian, writes, "If our withdrawal from the world does not prepare us for our re-entry into the world, then the whole quest has been in vain. The prototype of this re-entry into the world is given by Christ's entry into Jerusalem. This was made possible because of his previous withdrawal from the community to the desert."
After Henry David Thoreau spent two years at Walden Pond, he wrote: "We can only be of use to our community if we withdraw from it and start a pilgrimage of self-discovery. It is only by retreating ourselves from it that we come to an understanding of ourselves and our potential."
Although our increased time spent in solitude during Lent, does not constitute a complete withdrawal from community, it does provide an opportunity for viewing our life from a deeper and wider perspective.
Sometimes, the time we spend alone or with others is not so much an individual choice as the result of circumstances in life.
Anne Morrow Lindbergh's life was a constant struggle between her deeply shy and introspective personality and the celebrity status of being the wife of a famous aviator. "Looking from a plane," she once remarked, "makes me feel closer to the earth and everyone on it than many days in a teeming city." She preferred to view the world from a distant perspective but her writings portray a community of human beings whose lives are woven together in patterns of dependency and mutual responsibility.
Spending time
Solitude may seem like a quiet unproductive time but mystical forces are at work. Just as there is a gestation period before birth, time beneath the ground before a seed begins to sprout, or processing in a darkroom before an image from film appears on paper, we need to spend time on our inner development before we can change ourselves or the world community.
The Rev. Joseph W. Goetz, an Ohio theologian writes, "To be a responsible and responsive member of a community, whether it be the so-called nuclear family or a great and powerful nation, each of us needs to find time apart for silence, for solitude, for meditation."
XDr. Agnes Martinko is a member of St. Edward's Church, Youngstown.