8-28-2024 4:20am

Part 3--Megan R. Bartlett: the Wandering Mystic Seeks Solitude and Silence

Lesley Misko Editor

"The Wandering Mystic" photograph by Megan R. Bartlett

by Megan R. Bartlett*

In the early 1990s, I was still one of the new kids in town (Bally, that is). My family and I had moved there in May of ’89 and although I made a few friends and had a little brother with whom I could play whenever I wanted, I often felt lonely and misunderstood. It might seem counterintuitive, then, that I would find solace in retreating by myself to the large maple tree in our backyard.

Photograph by Megan R. Bartlett

Using a small stool to give me a boost, I would climb up into the tree and settle between the two main limbs. With the branches surrounding me and the leaves above me, I somehow felt less lonely. My breathing would steady and my racing thoughts would slow. Up there, I had a view of the field behind our house and the forest up the hill. This new perspective offered peace. It would be many years before I read about and studied the third century Egyptian monastics known as “the Desert Fathers and Mothers,” yet I was already tapping into their wisdom: solitude and silence are transformative; they are gateways to Divine Presence.

Over the years, I sought and found other places to be quiet and alone: the open sanctuary of Most Blessed Sacrament Church in Bally, the windowsill in the balcony of the Gettysburg College chapel, or a large rock alongside the Darby Creek in my current neighborhood. In these spaces, I have been held, heard, and understood by a Presence that is both me and not me, that which many call God, the Divine, or Ultimate Reality.

Photograph by Megan R. Bartlett

As I shared in my introduction to this series of articles (link here: https://boyertownareaexpression.town.news/g/boyertown-pa/n/264912/wandering-mystic), we all have the capacity to be mystics. Mysticism is nothing other than the experience of Oneness with all that is. Making space in our lives for solitude and silence is one way to nurture mysticism. Of course, in this world that pushes doing over being, productivity over stillness, and attention-grabbing stimuli over quiet, cultivating solitude and silence can be quite difficult. So, for this article, I thought I would share a few local places I have found which might help you do just that.

Solitude

As a pastor’s kid, I often wandered around the cemetery of Christ Lutheran Church, Niantic. It, like the maple tree in my yard, offered a space to be alone. Thus, if you can tolerate the morbid, you can most certainly find some solitude in any of the local cemeteries and burial grounds. One of the more picturesque of these is Fairview Cemetery on Rt. 73 in Boyertown. The summit of this hillside resting place boasts beautiful views of the town and the distant fields and hills. The Sunday I was there, I found myself entirely alone for twenty minutes with just the sounds of the birds and the wind in the trees.

Photographs by Megan R. Bartlett

Solitude and Silence

Unfortunately, there are few spaces that provide absolute solitude and silence. However, if that is what you need and you’re willing to travel a bit, Nirvana Float on Market Street in Collegeville (Link: https://www.nirvanafloat.com) offers a “total silence” experience in their Flotation Therapy tanks. For a 60- or 90-minute session, you can float in a tank that minimizes sensory input. Benefits are said to include deep relaxation, pain relief, and emotional healing. I must admit this is a bit too much silence and solitude for me, so I have yet to try it.

Silence

What resonates more with me is the quiet of a church sanctuary. So, if you just want a peaceful place to settle your mind, Most Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church in Bally is open for Eucharistic Adoration or for just sitting in silence in the sanctuary. (link here: https://mbsbally.org) Other churches in the area may also keep their sanctuary open during office hours.

Photograph by Megan R. Bartlett

Stillness

If you prefer a secular and wellness-oriented space, you could visit Himalayan Salt and Wellness in Boyertown (100 N. Schaeffer St. / Link here: https://himalayansaltnwellness.com). For a fee of $25 for 45 minutes, you can sit in the relative quiet of their salt “cave” (a room with hundreds of salt bricks lining the walls and comfy chairs to recline in) and experience the physical and emotional benefits of exposure to the dry salt-enriched air.

When I visited the cave, I learned that it is not silent (due to the halogenerator that activates the healing minerals in the salt), but I found it to be a good place to practice stillness. Smartphones and devices are not allowed in the cave, so if you’re anything like me (who pops up constantly from the sofa to fiddle with this or that or who checks the phone every few minutes), this will be a very good challenge. Despite the sound of the halogenerator and my busy mind, the voice of the Divine within me offered this wisdom: “You are not alone,” “An open heart can always hear the Divine,” and “It’s okay to be still.”

What lovely parallels to my life experiences and what I had researched! In solitude, we are never alone. In silence, the heart speaks. In stillness, we find the foundation for connection with the Divine. I invite you to make some time for solitude, silence, and stillness over the coming weeks and notice what occurs within you. You might just find, as Sufi mystic Jalaluddin Rūmī wrote, “you are what you seek.”

* Megan R. Bartlett is a ’95 BASH alum who now lives in the Philadelphia area. She is a licensed professional counselor and certified spiritual director who enjoys crafting, writing, and communing with Nature, especially with her beloved cats.