Today we set aside some intentional time to commune with God. This is the very center of our life together. We spend time alone with out Lord so that when we meet, we have something to give one another. In a book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer called "Life Together," he has the following to say about our time alone before God:
"Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. He will only do harm to himself and to the community. Alone you stood before God when he called you; alone you had to answer that call; alone you had to struggle and pray; and alone you will die and give an account to God. You cannot escape from yourself; for God has singled you out. If you refuse to be alone, you are rejecting Christ's call to you, and you have no part in the community of those who are called. "The challenge of death comes to us all, and no one can die for another. Everyone must fight his own battles with death by himself, alone... I will not be with you then, nor you with me" (Luther).
But the reverse is also true: Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. Into the community you were called, the call was not meant for you alone; in the community of the called you bear the cross, you struggle, you pray. You are not alone, even in death, and on the Last Day you will be only one member of the great congregation of Jesus Christ, and this your solitude can only be hurtful to you. "If I die, then I am not alone in death; if I suffer they [the fellowship] suffer with me" (Luther).
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