The Willows of Weston

The Twin Disciplines of Solitude and Silence

The Humber River has its source in the Caledon Hills and meanders its way south to Lake Ontario. The river’s path makes its way through the Humber Valley and passes only a few hundred yards from the front-door of our church. Lining the waterway’s path are a series of majestic Willow trees which come to verdant life with the sounding of May Day. I love this time of year in old Weston town! The greenery explodes. The trees awaken to life. And the flowers display their happy faces.

To my mind the first shining of the weeping willows is best experienced alone. In solitude. In silence. With little (or better yet) no distraction. Just you (or me), the willows, and the Humber’s rising spring waters. The challenge we face is that the spring’s magical moment requires solitude and we are far too enamoured with the crowds. We love multi-tasking and the chaos of distraction. We relish the “high” of it all. The twin disciplines of solitude and silence are pushed into the background—if they are there at all. Pascal once mused,

Nearly all the ills in life spring from the simple source, that we are not able to sit still in a room.

Thomas Merton knows much about the power of solitude and writes eloquently about it:

The solitary life, being silent, clears away the smoke-screen of words that man has laid down between his mind and things. In solitude we remain face to face with the naked being of things. And yet we find that the nakedness of reality which we have feared is neither a matter of terror nor for shame. It is clothed in the friendly communion of silence, and this silence is related to love.

In our hectic days perhaps we can begin with “little solitudes” as a way of priming the pump—an early morning rising, a first quiet cup of coffee, the drive to work without the radio on, a quiet stroll outside at coffee break. There is a long list of possibilities awaiting as “little solitudes.”

This season may you find your May Day place of stillness—your equivalent for my Weston Willows. It is a space of silence and solitude and you will know its peaceful calm when you seek it out and stay there awhile.