WRITING of Christ Jesus' relationship with his disciples, Mrs. Eddy says (Retrospection and Introspection, p. 91), "When he was with them, a fishing-boat became a sanctuary, and the solitude was peopled with holy messages from the All-Father."
This penetrating view of sacred withdrawal, with its transcendent results, prompts the question, How can we find and experience the same Christly solitude? We find our answer when, through the study of Christian Science, we prayerfully begin to desire solitude. Then there must follow an awakening to the vital value and significance of solitude and the inescapable necessity for it. Through spiritual propulsion it is gently unfolded to each student that the very nucleus of progress in divine Science is at-one-ment with God—precious hours of spiritual stillness in which to probe the depths of realism, ponder the nature and essence of the infinite, and imbibe "holy messages from the All-Father."
Solitude, viewed from a human standpoint, usually holds little attraction for mankind. For many, apprehension is associated with being alone; there is excessive yearning of the human affections for companionship and personal attachments. When spiritual quietness descends upon us, self-imposed emotionalism and human discontent, resulting from loneliness, must measurably lessen. In Science we learn that Love encircles the universe and that consequently it is impossible for man, the child of God to stray beyond the infinitude of Love's all-encompassing, satisfying presence.
