Practicing solitude, silence, and stillness creates a space within the soul for encounters with God.
Engaging in spiritual direction and learning the value of silence and stillness helps in discerning God's movement in our lives.
Deep dives
The Importance of Developing Practices for Making Decisions
Developing practices and cultivating character is crucial in preparing ourselves to make important decisions when unexpected moments arise. By consistently engaging in practices like solitude, silence, and stillness, we are better equipped to face decision-making moments with readiness.
The Value of Solitude and its Three Components
Solitude, silence, and stillness are interconnected practices that allow for deep encounters, growth, and encounters with Christ. Solitude creates a space within the soul, silence emerges as a result of solitude and silence, and stillness is a byproduct that enables encounters with God.
The Role of Solitude in Integrating Solitude into One's Rule of Life
The Solitude practice, a four-week experience, teaches how to integrate solitude more richly into our Rule of Life, helping us to arrange our lives around God. It combines teaching, conversation, and spiritual exercises to introduce this ancient discipline for a life with God.
The Journey to Spiritual Formation and the Value of Spiritual Direction
The journey towards spiritual formation often begins with the practice of spiritual direction. Meeting with a spiritual director helps in discerning God's movement in our lives and learning the value of silence and stillness in God's presence. It is a vulnerable and embodied form of learning that can't be easily replicated on our own.
In this podcast season so far, we’ve discussed two encounters that we may experience during solitude — an encounter with ourselves and an encounter with God. In this final interview of the season, John Mark Comer and Bryan Rouanzoin interview Emily P. Freeman about how solitude enables us to encounter the living God. Through this encounter, we can experience his presence, hear his voice, and witness his power personally.
Emily P. Freeman is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of five books, including TheNext Right Thing: A Simple, Soulful Practice for Making Life Decisions. As a spiritual director, podcast host, and workshop leader, her most important work is to help create soul space and offer spiritual companionship and discernment for anyone struggling with decision fatigue. Her work has been featured in Today Parents, Christianity Today, and Patheos. Emily holds a master’s degree in spiritual formation and leadership from Friends University where she also serves as a residency lecturer. She lives in North Carolina with her family. Find her work on her website, instagram, and her Substack, The Soul Minimalist.
This podcast accompanies the Solitude Practice, developed by Practicing the Way. Thanks to the generosity of The Circle, all our resources are free. To learn more about The Circle or to run a Practice with your church, community, or small group, visit https://www.practicingtheway.org/.
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