The Way of the Dragon or the Way of the Lamb: Searching for Jesus’ Path of Power in a Church that Has Abandoned It

by Jamin Goggin

Giving ourselves to times of silence and solitude helps to expose the ways in which our lives are truly oriented by distraction, achievement, and escapism. Silence and solitude reveal the ways in which we are swimming in the stream of worldly power and we aren’t even aware of it. We do not practice silence and solitude as a means of self-help, or to feel better about ourselves, but to be with God in the truth of ourselves and open to his movement of love. The formation of a person who is prayerfully abiding in Christ leads to maturity, and Christian maturity is defined by discernment and wisdom. Prayerfulness, silence, and recollection allow us to stand under the Word in truth, not dulling our hearing but becoming “those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Heb. 5:14).