Foreword by Dallas Willard
Preface
First Kings 19:1-19
1 Beyond Words
2 Beginnings
3 Resistance
4 Dangerously Tired
5 Rest for the Body
6 Rest for the Mind
7 Rest for the Soul
8 Emptiness
9 Facing Ourselves
10 Pure Presence
11 Receiving Guidance
12 For the Sake of Others
Appendix: A Day in Solitude
Sharing Silence: A Guide for Groups
Sources
Gratitudes
Dallas Willard (1935-2013) was a professor in the School of Philosophy at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles for over forty years. A highly influential author and teacher, Willard was as celebrated for his enduring writings on spiritual formation as he was for his scholarship. His books include The Divine Conspiracy (Christianity Today?s Book of the Year in 1998), The Spirit of the Disciplines, Hearing God, Renovation of the Heart and others. His books have received numerous Christianity Today Annual Book Awards and other recognitions. Willard served on the boards of the C. S. Lewis Foundation and Biola University, and was a member of numerous evaluation committees for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. He received bachelor?s degrees from both Tennessee Temple College and Baylor University and a graduate degree at Baylor University, as well as a PhD from the University of Wisconsin in Philosophy and the History of Science.
Ruth Haley Barton is a spiritual director, teacher, author and retreat leader trained at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation (Washington, D.C.). She is founder of the Transforming Center, a ministry of spiritual formation to pastors and Christian leaders, along with the congregations and organizations they serve. Educated at Wheaton College and Northern Seminary, Barton has served at several churches, including Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois. Her books include Sacred Rhythms, Longing for More and Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership (all InterVarsity Press).
"The author's own journey serves as a backdrop for a welcoming
invitation to experience the spiritual restoration of solitude and
silence. Her compelling invitation combines both a clear
explanation of the purpose of solitude and seasoned guidance on how
to practice it."
*James C. Wilhoit, Ph.D., Price-LeBar Professor of Christian
Formation and Ministry, Wheaton College Graduate School*
"Invitation to Solitude and Silence provides wonderful spiritual
companionship on the quest for intimacy with God. Read it through
to stir your appetite, then return to savor each chapter, engaging
the practical steps into the silence where your soul can find rest
in the Father's arms. Written in a style reminiscent of the
spiritual guides of centuries past, yet current, vibrant, and alive
with personal reflection and scriptural application. Ruth Barton
has whispered a call to overcome the fear of solitude and follow
the soul's deepest longing to experience God's presence. A
passionate, transformational resource that will foster both
personal spiritual growth and spiritual formation in a group
setting."
*William R. Cutrer, Gheens Professor of Christian Ministry, The
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary*
"I find books in the genre of the contemplative life are often
written by mystics who occupy some rarified, ethereal realm in
which I don't seem to live. Not so with Ruth Haley Barton's
Invitation to Solitude and Silence. Ruth takes us on her journey
into solitude and silence as one, like most of us, who must learn
to commune with God in the muchness of life."
*Greg Ogden, Author of Discipleship Essentials, and Executive
Pastor of Discipleship, Christ Church of Oak Brook*
"Ruth Haley Barton has gifted us with a vital way to deeper
intimacy with God and our own true self in God through the
neglected disciplines of solitude and silence. Along with her own
honest biographical witness, she offers us a variety of concrete
practices that can help the reader enter solitude and silence with
greater ease and understanding of the ways God is present for us in
such times, often in the face of our resistances. What she has
given us can contribute significantly to a more mature and full
spiritual life. She convincingly shows us the vital spiritual
importance of an intentional rhythm of work and rest, solitude and
community, silence and word."
*Tilden Edwards, Founder and Senior Fellow, Shalem Institute for
Spiritual Formation, Bethesda, Maryland*
"If you would really like to know the 'rest appropriate for the
people of God' (Heb 4:9), then make the decision to leave all
outcomes to God and enter the practice of solitude and silence with
Ruth Barton as your guide. As you do so, call upon Jesus to be with
you, and trust him for that. In a relatively short period of time
you will come to know the 'rest unto your souls' promised by him
who is meek and lowly of heart."
*From the foreword by Dallas Willard, author of Renovation of the
Heart*
"I have not otherwise found a more excellent and accessible guide
for those who seek, as Elijah, to know and be known by God in
solitude and silence. . . . I have given this book to all of our
employees and it has become an integral part of what we call '8:30
Stillness.'"
*Gary A. Haugen, president of International Justice Mission*
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