Alone in the room, but there is comfort

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I have discovered that all the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber. — Blaise Pascal, Pensées 139

The Rev. Herrick Johnson (1832-1913) was a Presbyterian minister who ministered in New York, Pennsylvania and Illinois, and also served as a Professor at Auburn Theological Seminary and McCormick Theological Seminary. He was elected to serve as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PUCSA) in 1882.

His wife Catherine Hardenbergh Johnson (1835-1907) was, like her husband, a published author, whose book of poems Comfort (1888) we have available on Log College Press. It is dedicated to Christians who may be struggling along the path.

To the toilers and sufferers, on the way to the “better country,” may these words come with something of help and healing.

Today’s selection from her little book brings to mind Pascal’s famous quote above which speaks to man’s sinful condition, while Mrs. Johnson’s poem reminds the reader — who perhaps is alone while reading this, or praying for another who is isolated — that the believer is never really truly alone. There is hope and comfort even in solitude.

ALONE

Alone in the room!
Oh, darkest mystery,
Earth’s bitter history,
Reads like a doom.

Alone in the room!
Missing the loving grace,
Wanting the precious face
Lost in the gloom.

Drinking death’s bitterness;
Cries of our sore distress
Piercing the tomb.

Alone in the room!
Oh, when will night be done?
Oh, Darling, Darling, come
Back to the room.

Alone in the room?
Oh, sweetest mystery!
Earth’s hidden history,
Christ’s in the room.

Alone in the room?
Cannot His perfect grace,
His tender pitying face,
Lighten the gloom?

Oh, He’s in the room!
Death’s bitter pang is past;
Victors we are at last,
Rending the tomb.

Alone nevermore!
Morning comes soon or late;
Oh, Darling, Darling, wait
Close by the shore.

Retirement With Jesus: A meditation by George Burrowes

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In solitude, meditation with Christ is sweet. George Burrowes, renowned commentator on the Song of Solomon, and poet, has written a meditation on this very topic, from his volume of poems titled Octorara, A Poem: And Occasional Pieces (1856).

Retirement With Jesus

There will I give thee my loves. — Song vii.12.

Come to this tranquil shade
Of forest boughs in spring’s rich freshness wove;
And on this turf with early flowers inlaid,
Bring filled with fervent love,

The censer of the heart;
And offer sacrifice of praise and prayer,
To Him whose Holy Spirit doth impart
Peace calm as this pure air.

Here are no rolling wheels,
No mammon’s pomp, nor envy, strife, nor jar;
Unfelt the din of life around us steals,
Like the dull waves afar.

From Salem’s crowds at even,
To the lone mount was Jesus e’er withdrawn;
There, with no voice to hear, he poured to Heaven
His prayer at early dawn.

There does he linger yet,
Revealed to faith’s pure eye, to meet and bless
Souls who, for his blest smiles and voice, forget
Earth’s phantom happiness.

When rosy morning fills,
In heaven’s dewy borders, her golden urn,
And bright her altars on the eastern hills,
With balmy incense burn;

When pensive eve doth gaze,
With wondering silence, on the starry throng,
That crowd the darkening courts of heaven, and raise
Their full adoring song;

Then haste, my soul, to meet
This confidential Friend, where none intrudes;
Feel Mary’s joy, while falling at his feet
In these blest solitudes.

Here, speaks He face to face,
With our o’erwhelmed and gladdened souls; our heart
He gathers to his bosom; and his grace
In melting streams imparts.

The hidden manna here,
Our spirits find by more than angels given;
And brighter than on Tabor’s mount, appear
O’erpowering gleams of heaven.

In this divine retreat,
Where breathes the fainting soul reviving air,
The spirit healthful grows, and feels it sweet
Its toils and woes to bear.

And when my soul alone
Must pass away from earth, through death’s dark shade,
He whom my heart has here so frequent known,
Will meet me with his aid;

And gathered in his arms,
A trembling lamb, my trusting soul he’ll bear
Safe through death’s terrors and the grave’s alarms,
His home in heaven to share.

G.M. Giger on Religious Retirement

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The busyness of a 24/7 news cycle, the pressing demands of work, the noise of children and neighbors - and much more - all conspire, it seems, to crowd out the quiet times that are so necessary to spend with God, and to gain peace of mind and enrich our souls. Just as the body needs sleep at periodic intervals, so the soul needs time apart from the cares of the world, even the necessary ones, to commune with God in prayer, to be fed by God’s Word, and to ponder deeply the things most needful to be considered in life.

Christ Himself shows us by example the great importance which we ought to place upon such times apart from the noise and bustle of the world: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed” (Mark 1:35).

Preaching from this text, George Musgrave Giger (most famous for translating Francis Turretin’s Institutes of Elenctic Theology) reminds us of the value of Religious Retirement, that is, the need to be alone with God for purposes of prayer, study and meditation. This sermon, published in John T. Duffield’s The Princeton Pulpit (1852), while warning against the opposite extreme of monastic-like separation from the world, emphasizes the following motives to and benefits of such religious retirement.

  • Christ’s own frequent and habitual example;

  • Christ’s precept regarding private worship that “when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly” (Matt. 6:6);

  • God’s creation of day and night, and times of action and stillness;

  • The example of Old Testament saints, such as David and Daniel, who sought out and regularly kept times of private devotion;

  • The example of early Christians who sought sanctuary for prayer away from their persecutors;

  • The cases of John Milton and John Bunyan, for example, whose times of private devotion in the study and in the prison cell led to such rich spiritual writings by which the Church and the world have been blessed;

  • Private devotion, apart from distraction, provides the best means for the study necessary to gain religious knowledge, which is key to our spiritual life and sanctification;

  • Religious retirement provides the opportunity for profitable self-examination, which is needful for correction in life and the amendment of our ways, and necessary for daily confession of sin and repentance before God;

  • Times apart from the world help us to get perspective on the world and its cares by viewing temporal concerns through the light of an eternal lens; and

  • Contemplation of eternal things stirs our affection towards and increases our attachment to heaven.

While the 21st century world encourages a “coming out of the closet,” Giger’s 19th century message to return regularly to the closet for private devotion is a reminder needed more now than ever. We all need such times apart from the cares of this world to commune with our God, and to enrich our souls through prayer and study and meditation. Read his full message here and be encouraged, especially as a new year approaches, to follow the example of Christ and regularly seek out religious retirement.