Glut reaction

perfectly tidy, with nothing superfluous. Ideally it should be furnished with a bed, a locker, a plain table, a chair, a small bookcase and nothing else.

This starkness is very impressive, but isn’t something I can achieve for more than a day – partly because I was born untidy, and partly because I need the God-given pleasures of a few modest objects that please the eye and lead to prayer.

Advertising, of which there is a great deal too much, can lead to a feeling of revulsion towards glut. There comes a point when simplicity is far more desirable than surplus.

In the Old Testament, a cell was a room, a storeroom or even a larder, which always faced away from the street – a private chamber guaranteeing absolute privacy. ‘Go into your rooms, my people, shut your doors behind you. Hide yourselves a little while until the wrath has passed.’ (Isaiah 26:20)

Hiding from God is an impossibility, as we know from Genesis onwards. Jesus’s stance could not be more different. He urges us to contact God via prayer, not to try to conceal ourselves.

In Matthew 6:6, a secluded room with a closed door is a place of intimacy with God. There is no wrath involved. Jesus says, ‘When you pray, go to your private room and, when you have shut your door, pray to your Father, who is in that secret place, and your Father, who sees all that is done will reward you.’

This advice is not just for Carmelites. It is for all Christians. It is the prelude to the ‘Our Father’, urging us to find not only time for God but also space.