8.1 - From Crowds to Solitude: Finding Yourself
This thought appeared while I was silently sitting statue-still and listening expectantly to the drip, drip, drip of that 2nd K-cup. What would it look like if I took a sheet of paper and a #2 pencil and drew a line representing my life? From a distance, it may appear straight and rising ever so slightly. You know, onward and upward. But from the inside and at close range, there would have to be those lifts and dips.
The upward curves represent marriages, births, promotions, raises, and other accomplishments. The downward curves, which are the hardest to see, represent lost jobs, dumb mistakes, divorce, lost friends, and one extremely deep dive representing the loss of Millie.
Oh, and I would have to draw in a few loops that represent those times I wasted trying to figure out what was happening or standing on the docks, waiting for my ship to come in.
Then I wondered, "What if you and I had done that and shown our 'lifelines' to each other?" Would they look similar? It would undoubtedly be therapeutic, like a variation of step #5!
In today's segment, we will reach back into chapter 7 and pick up the last line because someone separated the chapters in the middle of a sentence.
53 Then each of them went home, 8:1 while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
There is a lot underneath this continuation of 7:53, and I want us to see it, so let's do a quick recap, reviewing the recent roller coaster ride of Jesus’ life:
He stopped by a well in Samaria, met a woman, and paraphrased the 500-year-old cry of Isaiah, "Thirsty? Come to me and find rivers of living water.” Hundreds came.
Jesus fed the 5000, and his crowd of followers multiplied.
He then introduced spiritual concepts in his teaching, like "the bread of life come down from heaven" and "eating my flesh and drinking my blood,” and most of his followers left him; others argued about his meaning, and the authorities wanted to arrest and kill him.
He takes his teaching to the temple during the most popular Jewish festival, and many are confused.
He reuses Isaiah's well-known prophecy about the Messiah to signal that the 500-year-old wait is over. What they have been anticipating has arrived. Unlike the Samaritans, this crowd gets "hung up on Hometown" and quietly goes home.
What must he be thinking and feeling? The Samaritans run toward him; his people walk away. As we said in the eighth grade, when Miss Peacock spanked somebody, "That had to hurt!”
How did Jesus respond to the hurt? Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. As Chicago sang, “Everybody needs a little time alone."
Contrasting Responses
Before we move on, let's gaze awhile at John's portrait of the contrast in responses between 7:53 and 8:1. The crowd walked away and went home. They represent human nature, operating from physical consciousness. What did they do when they got there? No doubt, the arguments continued among neighbors and friends. Certainly, those who couldn’t attend were brought up to date as the news spread through the grapevine. Can't you imagine it? "You're not gonna believe this!”
Retreat: The Importance of Solitude and Silence
But Jesus? Jesus went alone to the Mount of Olives. Why did he go there? What did he do there? Why did John make sure we knew this? First, let's look to our imagination for what he did not do. He did not gather his remaining followers around him and complain about the spiritual illiteracy of the others. He did not spend the night seeking approval from them, pats on the back, and “You sure told’em, preacher.” That would've been the human thing to do. It sounds like something I would do. Instead, he went away to be alone, to be silent, and to pray/meditate.
John wanted to paint the stark contrast between living out of the physical and spiritual consciousness. At this crucial point, everybody else went about their lives; Jesus went to practice. The caption under John's painting would be that if one wants to develop one’s spiritual life, there will be times when one has to pull away from the crowd and be silent.
As I've said, silence is the most often overlooked exercise in modern life. Here's what a Google search on the subject returned. Various spiritual practices, such as meditation, prayer, and solitude, emphasize the importance of incorporating silence into our daily lives. For example, some believe that meditation is the ultimate form of silence and suggest meditating every four or five hours throughout the day.
On the other hand, certain Christians advise creating a quiet space in one's home for prayer and starting the prayer session by asking God to quiet one's thoughts. Additionally, it is recommended to take 15–30 minutes of quiet time at the end of a long day, spend time alone before going to bed, or go for a peaceful walk.
“In solitude and silence you’re learning to stop doing, stop producing, stop pleasing people, stop entertaining yourself, stop obsessing — stop doing anything except to simply be your naked self before God and be found by him.”
Jesus, after spending the night alone, returned to those who had abandoned him, refused him, and tried to arrest him.
“Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone.”
2 Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach them.
The solitude gave him clarity, and he could now see his mission more clearly. It reminds me of the words of Alan Watts, "I owe my solitude to other people.” Jesus was now that shepherd seeking out one lost sheep, a teacher sent to the lost tribe of Israel. So, “he began to teach them.” This is an example of how relentless the spirit or code is within our consciousness. We may choose to ignore, deny, or reject it, but eventually, it will return to teach us when we calm our minds and listen to our hearts.
Also, a silent night was needed to prepare Jesus for the situation he was about to encounter and the lesson he was preparing to teach.
But first…
Bible Study Note: I don't want to overlook that the original editors did not include these two verses and the following story in the earliest manuscripts of John's story. In my imagination, I can hear one editor saying, "You forgot this one.” And then another, “You've gotta tell this one!” While reading John's gospel, it helps me to remember that the final words of the final chapter were a disclaimer that “there were many other things which Jesus did” - thousands of other stories he could've told. Yet, here we are with just this few.
I shudder to think what the world would be like, what I would be like if John had omitted this story.
Labels and Compassion
3 The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and, making her stand before all of them, 4 they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him.
The case against her was ironclad. No loopholes. But eyewitnesses. That's strange.
Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”
Again, John contrasts our human nature with our spiritual nature, showing how Jesus uses labels. He doesn't. To the crowd, to herself, and throughout history, she was known as "the woman caught in adultery." The editors of the Bible subheaded this section with The Woman Caught in Adultery. To Jesus, she was a living soul trapped in unknown and unfortunate circumstances. Did her master force sex on the servant girl? Was she a prostitute using the only means possible to provide for her children? Human nature looks at the act; the law slaps on the label and hands out the punishment. Jesus does not.
He looks beyond the label and into the heart of the individual. Indeed, he doesn't even label her accusers. He takes them into their hearts to evaluate themselves and releases the woman to a life of self-evaluation.
(Was she Mary Magdalene, who later became a devoted follower of Jesus? Or was she Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who broke the perfume vials and put it on Jesus’ feet? Or are all three of these women the same person? Or is she a representation of the condition of so many women at that time?)
Living Authentically Beyond Societal Labels
John encourages us to reflect on how frequently we judge others based on society's labels. It's even more important to consider how many labels we have placed on ourselves. Jesus teaches us to look beyond these labels and acknowledge each person's humanity and unique circumstances. He urges us to look inward and live a life of self-evaluation rather than defining ourselves by society's labels.
To my grandchildren and their children: Our lives are internal, not external. By that, I mean you will be tempted to attach the labels offered to you by parents, friends, teachers, and others and act out their roles. Please don't do it! According to Thoreau, it leads to "lives of quiet desperation." Just look at the world around you. Instead, go deep inside, discover who you really are, and perform that role. Emerson taught, “To believe our own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, -- that is genius.” And, “for the inmost in due time becomes the outmost.”
For those of us who are well on in life, in the "initial approach," as I call it, here's a thought from a recent period of contemplation: “Core within the core.” As we travel inward from the external to the core and then to the silent “core within the core” and look outward, we see that our life’s circumstances have left labels. Life has pinned labels on the outer wall, while circumstances have placed labels on the wall of our core. Deeper, in the "core within the core," there are no labels, no events, only the light of our eternal being. This yellow light is so bright, it's almost white. Its purpose is to shine through, dissolving the effects of life's circumstances and unpinning the labels we or others have placed on us. If interested, here is the guided meditation that prompted these thoughts.
Random thought: Isn’t it possible that John was aware of what Jesus wrote on the ground? After all, he could have been part of the group around Jesus during the incident. However, it's interesting that John doesn't mention it in his account. Even if he wasn't there, it's likely that the disciples would have discussed the incident and possibly questioned Jesus about it. If so, why did he leave it out? While fascinating, it can be distracting since we may never know the answer. Instead, let's focus on the life-changing lesson Jesus may have spent the night preparing to teach.
Here are some critical thoughts:
Jesus demonstrates the need for solitude and silence to connect with one's spiritual self and gain clarity - especially in the face of disappointment.
Human nature operates physically and superficially, while spiritual consciousness requires deeper introspection and silence.
The story of the woman caught in adultery illustrates Jesus' approach to labels and judgment. Instead of condemning, he encourages self-evaluation and compassion, seeing the individual beyond societal labels.
John included this story to emphasize the importance of self-discovery and living authentically according to one's inner truth, echoed in the teachings of Emerson and Thoreau.
