Colin Curtis Outside Reading Blog #1

Colin Curtis

8/30/16

For my first blog entry regarding sacred places and journeys, I decided to focus on my reading outside of class. I'll be focusing on the fact that all throughout the four gospels, Jesus frequently withdrew by himself to remote places to spend intimate time in prayer with God. In the Gospel of Luke specifically, Luke noted two particular times when Jesus took intentional time out of his day (or night) to pray and commune with his father. After healing a man with leprosy, Jesus "often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." (Luke 5:16) Before choosing his twelve apostles, "Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God." (Luke 6:12) I believe that as a Christian, there's a lot that I can learn from this behavior. I try to live my life with Jesus as my model and example, and thoroughly believe that a Christian life is  most fulfilling and productive when one is closely imitating Christ. Leviticus 20:26 says "You must be holy because I, the LORD, am holy," and Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:11 that we should "Imitate me as I imitate Christ," so the Bible makes it clear that Jesus should be our example. So, since Jesus frequently took time to be alone with God, even though he experienced perfect communion with the Father as an intimate and sinless part of the trinity, how much more so should I take time with God, as the fallen and sinful human being that I am! I do not think that the location of the time spent with God is of utmost importance; but I think there's a lot to be said for the fact that Jesus sought out wilderness. There's a wonderful feeling of closeness with God that comes from being totally alone in nature; something about the beauty of his creation inspires me to seek his face more intentionally, with significantly less distractions then I would face, say, in the middle of a library. However, Christ did command us, "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you," (Matthew 6:6) So a healthy balance must be observed. But personally, in my own life, some of the most wonderful prayer experiences I've ever had have been outside. Whether they're been on the Appalachian Trail, on top of a mountain, or looking out over a lake, there's definitely something special about being alone outside with God.