1. Nouwen describes solitude as creating space between us and our distractions, whether they be external distractions (i.e. TV, radio, jukeboxes) or internal distractions such as our thoughts and daydreams. Solitude is a spiritual discipline that lets us become attuned to the voice of God, so we can hear him when we otherwise wouldn't.
2. Nouwen believes that spiritual life without discipline is impossible because God works actively in our lives in many ways, and when we enter into solitude, we give God a place and Time, which he deserves, so to lead a spiritual life, we must make solitude so as to respect all that God does for us. Nouwen's suggestion for us to cultivate solitude is that we discipline our time of solitude by planning out our time carefully, so that our solitude is not interrupted by other distractions.
3. Nouwen describes the absurd life as coming from the Latin word "surdus" which means "deaf." so absurd is a life of not listening to God. The obedient life comes from the Latin word "audire" which means "listening", so the obedient life is one in which we listen to God's voice.
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