“I proclaim to you that which is of most importance . . .” St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 15.

“Prayer is the center of the Christian life. It is the only necessary thing. It is living with God in the here and now.” Henri Nouwen

“What’s in your wallet?”  A familiar question from the Capitol One credit card company. 

“What’s in your center?”  That’s a better question.  A grounding question.  A lasting question.  Maybe even a life-altering question.

What do I mean by asking this question?  Simply this:  What it is that keeps you from falling into the pit of despair or depression when life isn’t going well?  When your world is shaken and the ground is fracturing beneath your feet?  What is it that gives your life meaning and hope, and that puts a smile not only on your face but in your heart when all seems lost?  What is it that gives light when life seems so dark?

I suspect that many people live life on the edges, trying to fill those desolate spaces with things that ultimately disappoint; wasting inordinate amounts of time, energy and money on things that don’t matter, don’t last, don’t satisfy.  Things like success, popularity, fashion, fun, politics, ideologies;  Or things like things.

This past I spent time with two people who were dying, and received news of the death of another.  I visited a man who is facing a very serious life-threatening surgery, and another who had just undergone one.  I spoke with someone who is living in fear of what is happening not only in her life, but in this country and the world, and another person who had a horribly terrible conversation with someone who was accusing her of things that simply weren’t true.  Oh yeah, and a business owner who is burning the candle at both ends to make ends meet and in the process is burning himself out.  And then there were the two groups of people I met with, one of which is facing challenges of caring for others who are close to them and the other grieving those whom they have lost. 

And then there’s you.  What about you?  What is it that you are facing that is threatening to not only shake but destroy the foundations you have carefully put in place not only in life but in faith?  What’s in your wallet won’t help.  What’s in your center will.

And what is that, dear friend?  What is at your center?  And how do you find that center and then maintain it?  I invite you to consider the wagon wheel at the top of this blog and consider what currently is forming the hub of your faith and life, and what actually needs to be there so that your wagon doesn’t come off the wheels.

There are many “tools” that can be used to repair our hub and solidify our center.  One of the best that I’ve found is devotional reading of inspirational texts.  It is called Lectio Divina.  Some of you may be familiar.  It consists simply of taking a short verse from the Bible (I prefer the Gospels), and reading it, praying it, chewing on it, swallowing it, digesting it. And then acting like a cow and bringing it up again so that you can chew your cud.  It certainly can be a new reading every day, or perhaps it is the same inspirational reading that you continue to consider throughout the week.  I have recently found this to be most beneficial.  You can even add to this practice by having a small journal in which you can write and record your thoughts and ideas and encouragements and anything that serves to feed your soul and spirit.  From my reading of Nouwen, I believe that this is the “method” that he used to form and shape his prayer life.  I am certain that it is what served as the basis for followers of The Way throughout the centuries, as they listened to God by listening to The Inspired Word.

So, what’s at your center?  And how much time and energy do you spend in whatever spiritual practice that serves to solidify that center?  Doing so has proven results.  You will spend less time living on the edges, worried about whatever it is that is causing consternation.  You will find a sense of grounding and peace and joy.  Your spirit will be filled not with the spirit of this present age, but with the Spirit of God, who lives and moves in the Center of All Things.

“Dear God,
I am so afraid to open my clenched fists!
Who will I be when I have nothing left to hold on to?
Who will I be when I stand before you with empty hands?
Please help me to gradually open my hands
and to discover that I am not what I own,
but what you want to give me.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Only Necessary Thing: Living a Prayerful Life