Fridstool

Have you ever heard of a fridstool?  I hadn't either.  I am currently reading The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon.  One of the protagonists, Jamie, is looking for a quiet place to be alone, and he is reminded of something a nun had told him:

A fridstool is a seat of refuge, of sanctuary. Churches—English churches—often have one, for the use of persons seeking sanctuary, though I must say, they aren’t used as often these days as in former centuries.” She waved a hand knobbed with rheumatism and took another drink. “As I no longer have my cell as a place of private retirement, I was obliged to find a fridstool. And I think I have chosen well,” she added...

Do you ever feel as if you need a fridstool?  I do. 

A quiet, secluded place gives my mind room to think.  It gives my spirit time to be quiet.  Sometimes my fridstool is in my car.  Sometimes it is the chair I have sitting in my office near the window, where I can read a devotional and have a few moments of prayer.  Sometimes finding a fridstool requires that I leave my office and walk down to the chapel in the chuch where I work.

It an be a place or a time; it can be for serious study, prayer or it can be for leisure reading.  It can be for just a time of quiet.  Whatever you need -- whatever time alone means to you, try to find your fridstool.