Page 60 - 102717-James Allen-Byways to Blessedness-flipbookversion_Neat

56 BYWAYS TO BLESSEDNESS

deprived of the needful rest and sleep, so do the spirits of men break down, being deprived of the
necessary silence and solitude. Man, as a spiritual being, cannot be maintained in strength,
uprightness, and peace except he periodically withdraw himself from the outer world of
perishable things and reach inwardly towards the abiding and imperishable realities. The
consolations of the creeds are derived from the solitude which those creeds enforce. The regular
observance of the ceremonies of formal religion, attended, as they are, with concentrated silence
and freedom from worldly distractions, compels men to do unconsciously that which they have
not yet learned to do consciously — namely, to concentrate the mind periodically on the inward
silence, and meditate, though very briefly, on high and holy things. The man who has not learned
to control and purify his mind in seasons of chosen solitude, yet whose awakening aspirations
grope for something higher and nobler than he yet possesses, feels the necessity for the aid of

ceremonial religion; but he who has taken himself in hand with a view to self-conquest, who
withdraws into solitude in order to grapple with his lower nature, and masterfully bend his mind
in holy directions, requires no further aid from book or priest or Church. The Church does not
exist for the pleasure of the saint but for the elevation of the sinner.
In solitude a man gathers strength to meet the difficulties and temptations of life, knowledge to
understand and conquer them, and wisdom to transcend them. As a building is preserved and
sustained by virtue of the foundation which is hidden and unobserved, so a man is maintained
perpetually in strength and peace by virtue of his lonely hour of intense thought which no eye
beholds.
It is in solitude only that a man can be truly revealed to himself, that he can come to
understand his real nature, with all its powers and possibilities. The voice of the spirit is not heard
in the hubbub of the world and amid the clamours of conflicting desires. There can be no spiritual
growth without solitude.
There are those who shrink from too close a scrutiny of themselves, who dread too complete a
self revelation, and who fear that solitude which would leave them alone with their own thoughts
and call up before their mental vision the wraith of their desires. And so they go where the din of
pleasure is loudest and where the reproving voice of Truth is drowned. But he who loves Truth,
who desires and seeks wisdom, will be much alone. He will seek the fullest, clearest revelation of
himself, will avoid the haunts of frivolity and noise, and will go where the sweet, tender voice of
the spirit of Truth can speak within him and be heard.
Men go after much company and seek out new excitements, but they are not acquainted with
peace; in diverse paths of pleasure they search for happiness but they do not come to rest; through
diverse ways of laughter and feverish delirium they wander after gladness and life, but their tears
are many and grievous, and they do not escape death.
Drifting upon the ocean of life in search of selfish indulgences men are caught in its storms and
only after many tempests and much privation do they fly to the Rock of Refuge which rests in the
deep silence of their own being.
While a man is absorbed in outward activities he is giving out his energies and is becoming
spiritually weaker, and in order to retain his moral vigour he must resort to solitary meditation. So
needful is this that he who neglects it loses or does not attain the right knowledge of life; nor does