Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. (Mark 1:35)
Week 4, Day 1
I learned a lot about private spaces from Shirley. One time, only weeks before our marriage, I wanted her to go somewhere with me. “I just need to be alone,” she said.
In the months that followed (and the years since), the importance of private spaces has become clear to me. We need times to separate ourselves, even from the people we love the most. We need moments when we can reflect and integrate what’s happening to us.
True love, I learned, makes allowances for private spaces. I’ve also learned to make private spaces for myself. I do it mostly with running. I go off alone for forty minutes to an hour, usually by myself, and don’t want to talk to anyone.
We all need private spaces; some need those spaces more than others. Shirley needs it more than I do, because by nature she’s more private. She makes many important decisions in solitude. I like to talk with friends I trust, hear what they say, and then if I’m still not sure, in privacy I decide.
We’re all different. True lovers not only understand the difference in the other, but encourage it as well.
In the New Testament, Jesus gave a prime example of private spaces. It says in Mark’s Gospel that long before day, he went to a private place and prayed. Afterwards the disciples brought sick people to him and he healed them. He preached everywhere. But first he sought a private space.
Lovers need that private space away from each other and all the crowding noises of the day. We need the opportunity to reflect and to make decisions. In those times of solitude we grow.
Lord of life, help us encourage each other’s private spaces as we mutually seek to follow you. Amen.