Teaching | The Solitude Practice | The Quiet Place E01
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What is the purpose of this episode and how does it introduce the practice of solitude?
Hello and welcome. My name is Yinka Dawson and I'm the host of Practice in the Way with John Mark Homer, a podcast featuring teachings and conversations with John Mark and other voices to help us journey into a deeper life with God. Today we begin a new series of teachings on the ancient practice of solitude shared by John Mark Adventist Church in Los Angeles, California. This series explores how we can step away from the noise of modern life and into the still, peaceful presence of God. In this teaching, John Mark explains what true solitude with God is, what it isn't, and what might be waiting for us if we follow Jesus into the quiet place. If you'd like to continue exploring what it means to build a life with God in solitude, we have good news for you.
John Mark's newest book, Into the Quiet, is now available for pre-order. We invite you to secure your copy using the link in the episode description and to discover how you can step out of the chronic noise of our world and into the presence of the God of peace. Lastly, we're a crowdfunded nonprofit, so everything we make, including this podcast, is completely free because it's already been paid for by The Circle and other givers. Thank you all for your generosity. If you'd like to join these friends in The Circle, visit practicingtheway.org forward slash generous. Now here's John Mark with today's teaching on The Quiet Place.
Good morning, everybody. There you are. Great to see you and your shining face. It is a delight to be with you. Please turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter five. Last time I was with you was for the community practice, and it is right and fitting that next up is the solitude practice. I believe that community and solitude are like the twin pillars of the spiritual life, the two legs by which we travel the way of Jesus. together um the trick is that most of us kind of intuitively get our need for community but we're less in touch with our need for solitude or or quite honestly we like have the opposite of a felt need for solitude we have a aversion or anxiety over it and that makes perfect sense and we'll talk about that
in the weeks to come. But why solitude? Why this practice? There is a laundry list of reasons that we'll get into over the next few weeks. Let's just start with an obvious one. You live, we live in a very noisy city. Am I right? It was a lovely drive-in this morning along the PCH, but man, there were airplanes overhead on the way to LAX, and helicopters, and UFOs apparently, and their delivery trucks bleeping at 6.15 in the morning on a Sunday, and it's just noisy out there. Scientists are beginning to sound the alarm on a new emerging kind of toxin in our environment that they call noise pollution. The WHO just named it as the second worst environmental toxin after air pollution, beating out oil and gas.
because of its impact on the human body. And the science is fairly simple. Like, if you think about your body, it's designed by God or evolution or whatever, both, we were created for quieter soundscapes. If you were out with Gare, wherever he is this weekend, I don't know that he still is in this church, because he's never here when I'm here. But if you were out backpacking with Gare in the wild, it would not be silent. You would hear birdsong and wind in the tree and beauty. But if there was a loud sound, the odds are very high that it would be something dangerous. Very little in nature is loud and safe. It is likely a tsunami or a hurricane or a tornado or thunder and lightning or a predator leaping out of the bush to eat you alive.
And so your body has been designed in such a way that sound over a certain decibel range, it perceives as a threat. And immediately before you can even... process it with your prefrontal cortex, goes straight down your spine through your central nervous system to activate your alarm system, your fight or flight system. Which is why when you're driving down the 405 and somebody who's so fast and so furious just rips by you with that illegal muffler that the police do not actually enforce, your brain may know that is not Vin Diesel, that is like a 59-year-old software engineer who just got a payout and bought that car.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the purpose of this episode and how does it introduce the practice of solitude?
0:03–7:50
2
How does modern noise pollution impact our bodies, minds, and spiritual health?
7:50–14:25
3
Why is solitude a vital practice for Christians despite our aversion to it?
14:25–20:46
4
What can we learn from Dr. King’s quiet kitchen prayer about listening to God?
20:46–25:32
5
How does solitude differ from loneliness, isolation, and mere aloneness?
25:32–32:03
6
What are the three pillars—silence, solitude, and stillness—that shape the quiet place?
32:03–37:09
7
How can listeners begin a simple daily practice of solitude, silence, and stillness?
37:09–41:59
8
Where can listeners find books, guides, and events to deepen their solitude practice?
41:59–49:52