The Need to Be Alone

[409 words] Most of us enjoy the feelings we get when we are in the middle of a crowd. The thrill of the football stadium crowd, the shared enthusiasm when our team scores, and even the disappointment when they lose, are all factors of our delight in this type of experience. Many of us find it strange when someone wants to be alone. “What, you want to be completely alone, with NOBODY there?” The desire to be alone is often considered to be anti-social. In spite of this feeling, there are times when we really need to be alone. The life of Jesus serves as our best example of what is right, proper, and acceptable to God. We find that he often sought time to be alone, and even commanded solitude under certain conditions. First, Jesus commanded solitude in prayer: “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and…