your cell will teach you everything
"Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything." — Abba Moses the Black (and yes .. he really was called that!)
Many of you will have come across this phrase. It is one that resonates with people attempting to live a solitary life.
In the modern era, we most likely think of a cell as something akin to a prison cell. It is likely that the cells used by the Desert fathers were quite similar; possibly with even more basic facilities. A cell, in a modern sense, doesn't have to mean anything that austere though. A Carthusian cell, for example, has a number of rooms.. for sleeping, studying, prayer and work. Despite the size though, it is fair to say that they are more than sparsely furnished with very basic facilities.
So, for those of us who live in society but as a (sort of) solitary, what is a 'cell' for us? Well, unless you are one of the rare breed who seek a log cabin in the Scottish highlands or a remote farmhouse far from society, your 'cell' will most likely be wherever you live, whether that be a house or a flat.
Some solitaries will have a dedicated prayer room or prayer place; perhaps a corner of a room. Others will probably have little in their residence which indicates any form of religious life at all. And that's ok .. being a contemplative Christian doesn't mean wearing a t shirt stating what you are or what you believe it,it is simply what you so.
The 'cell' for many solitaries is simply a time of the day when we temporarily 'retire' from the day or night to spend time 'with God'. For most solitaries, this might mean a small amount of reading and then some time contemplating what they have just read, before spending time in silent prayer. Some call this 'meditation' while others prefer not to use a term more commonly associated with Buddhism, but essentially, silent prayer is a period of silence where we focus on our breath or on a short prayer word or phrase.
Distractions and thoughts will definitely arise during this period of time, and probably more than you would like. Over time though, people find that their prayer time becomes more focused and 'deeper'.
Eventually, as our timer bell signals the end of the session, we slowly refocus, before returning to 'the world' which sounds grand but may well mean returning to daily tasks such as the washing up that we decided to put off in order to pray .... There are many benefits to silent prayer .. but escaping washing up is most definitely not one of them.
I will try to write a blog on silent prayer in more detail another time.