Devotions from Brennan Mannings book, The Rabbi’s Heartbeat

Often we feel like we are wasting time when we aren’t doing something productive and accomplishing something. We may feel guilty and selfish when we take time to go off alone.  But spending time in quiet before God is not wasting time but a time when we grow in awareness of our identity of His beloved.  It is not possible to know another person intimately without spending time together.  It is like water that needs to settle. When we are constantly in the midst of others we can’t see ourselves as we really are because of all the confusion and disturbance. But as we slow down and wait we come to know ourselves better and the sacredness of others.  We connect best with others when we connect with the core of ourselves. We can listen to others more attentively and love them more unselfishly. We can speak and act with greater strength, to forgive rather than nurse wounds, to focus on the things that really matter, and to actually have more energy. So let us not feel guilty when we make room for silence and solitude and let Him tell us how very loved we are.