Sunday, September 09, 2012

 

Alone


A long time ago, I took the Myers-Briggs personality-typing test and was categorized as an INFJ, described here. That means that I am (to some degree) an introvert, intuitive, feeling, and judgmental.

What often surprises people about that is that I am an introvert, but it is a completely accurate assessment. I'm not only comfortable being alone, there are times I really need to be alone, and thrive on that. It's how I gather myself.

I don't feel like this is a negative trait, though sometimes people who are more social than I am think it is odd. I see this trait, though, in other people whose spirituality I really admire, like Susan Stabile. Christ, of course, sometimes needed solitude-- he would leave everyone else and go to be alone. Even in a group, he had ways to remove himself, such as in John 8, when he writes on the ground, off from the crowd.

I'm not Christ, and can't say I know what he was doing there, but I do understand that instinct in my own way.

We are, I think, called to community-- after all, the church is nothing less than that, and Christ directed us to communal worship. It is important to be a part of the group. For some of us, though, we also need that time alone to be whole and at peace, and that is within Christ's spirit, too.

Those two poles which compete for our time, quiet solitude and communion with others, correlate to the two great commandments-- because to love our God, we must listen quietly to and for him, and to love one another, we must share in joy and sorrow together. It is a duality that makes a whole... and we all do seek to be whole, on the many paths before us..

Comments:
Imagine the responses you would have received at your recent St. Thomas retreat if one of the meditation / discussion questions would have been to describe the experience of being alone? I believe I might still be searching for descriptive words.

I can still recall the silent conversations that took place before settling on the white background and the glowing halo ankle strap on the red stiletto heel as the cover for the story of New Christine posted yesterday – Reactions to the image have ‘never’ been silent, nor often kind. However, the symbolism conveys how “I felt a constant Spiritual presence that was there, To Watch over Me.”

Alone with the Spirit within is the most precious and peaceful of time and as precious as life itself – it is life itself. For if Christ’s last breath on the cross became our first, need we seek light or truth? For when the Gift, given with birth, dwells within – need we only open our hearts and let God’s love and light shine forth?
 
I am also an INFJ, Mark. People are often similarly surprised that I am an introvert (although, like you I, many introverts develop extrovert coping tendencies over the years).

But the truth is that everyone - introvert or extrovert - could benefit from time alone with God. And I think your final paragraph expresses that well.
 
I'm INFJ, too, and the J always bothered me. Now, that I'm editing, I understand why you don't put a P in that position. Someone needs to say, with decisiveness, "That comma goes THERE."
 
I took this test many years ago and don't remember my exact typing. Only that my I/E were not strong in either direction.

On the topic of alone; the pool is my favorite place to be alone with my thoughts.
 
What a fine Sunday blog.
 
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