Too many times we think that spirituality is something that we do. Perhaps it is our need to feel like we are in control of our own lives or perhaps it is just the way we have been taught, but doing is often not helpful for spiritual formation.
There was a desert father called Abba Moses who once said, "Go sit in your cell and your cell will teach you everything." It was also said that a monk outside of his cell is like a fish out of water, only able to live for a little while.
Why would sitting in a cell be the great teacher to Abba Moses and the other desert Christians?
I would suggest that sitting in a silent and quiet place helps God find us.
Imagine you are in a totally dark forest. Imagine that God is also in this forest. You each are looking for each other. Because you are both moving it is much harder to locate each other. Your yelling out for God drowns out the still small voice of the one you are searching for. Groping among the trees, you grow frustrated at your inability to find the source of all life and love. And so you sit down.
And when you sit down, you finally hear what you could not hear before. You hear the still small voice. And, in due time, God finds you.
Sit in your cell, for it will teach you everything.
