Of Swirlies and Solitude

Do you ever remember going through something called orientation? It might have occurred in the process of getting your education, serving in the military, or being hired at a new job. Freshmen orientation occurred for me in the fall of 1968. It was a day that we as freshmen entered high school before the dreaded upperclassmen came back. It was designed to help us get familiar with the layout of the building, location of our classrooms and lockers, meet our teachers, and get a feel for life at the new level of near-adulthood. It was also a day where those who had older brothers or sisters shared stories of what seniors did to freshmen (we were told to avoid restrooms where swirlies were sure to be given). It was a day devoted to doing life with a whole group of peers that we were somewhat familiar with before the dreaded arrival of the villainous veterans the next day.

Orientation at the military level is called boot camp and is exponentially more severe than anything we observed as freshmen. Those going through it tell stories that those of us outside of military can never quite relate to. The severity of it is necessary to prepare people who will experience the horror of war and life under the most dire of circumstances. Basic training is a severe jolt of reality that life is about to change. Job orientation is probably somewhere in between. In it, the new hiree is informed of the business culture associated with the job. Even those working in a similar field, receive instruction on the differences that are peculiar to each employer. Most anyone going to a new job can testify that the first few weeks are a significant learning curve and a difficult transition until the new normal takes over.

The point to the orientation process is to help condition you for life at a new level or under new terms. The need for orientation is based on the premise that what one is about to engage in is different and requires significant adaptation in order to function properly. It is a systemic shock absorber that sets the terms for expectations of the new life. Life for the one undergoing orientation is about to change and change drastically. It is interesting that once orientation is over and individuals begin to experience life in their new environment, a new normal takes over. By the time I was a senior, high school life was routine, the building was boring, and I was looking for some freshmen to share the meaning of swirly with.

What was shocking to us pre-orientation becomes normal through the ongoing, habitual, routine of the new environment. In time if we fully cooperate, we engage in life at the new level as second nature and without much thought. The environment conditions us to a new normal. The new normal or routine become life.

Our orientation into human life comes with birth. I don't remember anything about it but I'm told that I came into my new environment kicking and screaming. Life in the womb was over and my new environment was not to my liking. I needed constant care to orient me into my new world. My cord was cut. I was cleaned up. I was fed. I was burped. My diapers were changed. I was bathed. I was dressed. In the most complete and lengthiest orientation process ever experienced, I was directed from total dependency on others into some form of self-sufficient functionality in life. Through parenting, interaction with peers, and yes surviving swirlies and the entire education process, I became conditioned to the life around me. It is now normal and the womb I came from is not. It is life as I know it. It is the same for you.

The habits of mind, emotion, and body are all developed from our close ongoing connection to this life. Without knowing it, we are shaped and molded by our environment over time. It is what defines normal for all of us. My normal is probably not your normal, but it is still normal. Without our knowledge, we are involved in a habitual reinforcement of life that pounds away at us without relent. There may be no bright light shining in our face, no tools of torture or overt brainwashing, or no interrogator telling us, "We have ways of making you talk!" but we do experience ongoing routine influence and indoctrination by the social setting around us. I want to emphasize the words routine, ongoing, and habitual. It is everywhere and it is without interruption. The result is that we embrace life without much thought as we simply live out life as it is seen and absorbed in the environment around us.

But Jesus calls us to a different life. There is a life defined by the Kingdom of God that is as different for us as any other stage in life that required orientation. How do we break free from normal in order to experience life as Jesus promised us? How do we orient ourselves to the Kingdom of God and life under the new paradigm that is found in scripture? To think that it will automatically occur is to ignore the power of environment. It appears that a weekly one hour orientation called church service is not very successful as well. Bible study, prayer, and church attendance seem to have little effect on soul transformation, at least as we currently observe culture. These things while helpful, simply don't have the power to overcome the routine, ongoing, habitual, influence of life around us. The relentless social influence we encounter is simply too much for most of us to experience life at a new level or under new terms. In some cases it is so overwhelming that believers don't even know that a new level or terms are needed.

I believe that the answer is found in solitude and Sabbath. Only as we break away from routine for lengthy periods of time can we effectively quiet the voices of culture and re-orient ourselves to the Kingdom. I never thought I would say this but I believe that solitude is perhaps the most difficult of all things that God asks us to do. Periods of silence, space for reflection, and hours spent doing nothing but quiet are the most difficult things to embrace as a life style. This aspect of spiritual orientation is the toughest of all. Part of the reason is that no one is doing this for us. No parents, no school administrator, no drill sergeant, no person from human resources. It is up to us and to be honest, we would rather be busy and engaged than silent and disengaged.

When we have time, we make the phone call we've been putting off, watch television, read a book, surf the web, catch up on emails, or engage in Facebook. These things are the activities of "my time" and what I treat myself to when I'm not busy. But these things keep me connected to the very world that I must leave to orient myself to new life. Solitude is a choice we make and a discipline we must learn to effectively enter into the life that God has for us. It is the catalyst to all other graces that effectively enables us to live life differently. Generally speaking, God does not compete for our attention. He will generally leave us to our own devices of obsession and exhaustion. He calls us to be "still and know" that He is God. In quietness and solitude he makes himself known and in this knowledge he redirects our thoughts, emotions, and actions.

The silence of Jesus is probably as important as his words in some respects. We see him going off alone. We find him apart from people. We find him in the disciplined space of solitude to be with God. If he needed it, how much more do we? But how do we pry ourselves away from a world that is discovering new ways, more seductive ways, more powerful ways to come at us? An hour a week of hyped up or hyped down church doesn't cut it. A daily devotion that is forgotten by the time daily responsibilities begin is not the answer. Our orientation requires more...and that more is less. I challenge you to take the solitude test. Find time to spend doing nothing but silence, doing it alone, and doing it undistracted. See how hard it is. Dare to take a day each week where you spend the bulk of it in relationship with God and away from everything else. Dare to put solitude and Sabbath back into your life so that your life can be re-oriented in the direction of the Kingdom. Perhaps in doing so, the Kingdom life can become second-nature to all of us.