In solitude Isaiah saw the Lord. In solitude he found himself and the revelation was more than he could bear. “What a wretched state I am in! I am lost!” So it is with all who enter into real solitude. The layers of acquired knowledge, conditioned behavior, and self-confidence are sloughed off. The vision of the self without all its accustomed accretions is shocking. How different from the cherished image does the authentic self appear!
