Some Centering Moment

We wait in the quietness for some centering moment that will redefine, reshape, and refocus our lives. It does seem to be a luxury to be able to give thought and time to the ups and downs of one’s private journey while the world around us is so sick and weary and desperate. But, our Father, we cannot get through to the great anxieties that surround us until, somehow, a path is found through the little anxieties that beset us. Dost Thou understand what it is like to be caught between the agony of one’s own private needs and to be tempest-tossed by needs that overwhelm and stagger the mind and paralyze the heart? Dost Thou understand this, our Father?

For the long loneliness, the deep and searching joy and satisfaction, the boundless vision—all these things that give to Thee so strong a place in a world so weak—we thank thee, Father. For whatever little grace Thou wilt give to Thy children even as they wait in confidence and stillness in Thy presence, we praise Thee. O love of God, love of God, where would be we be without Thee? Where?

(For the Inward Journey: the writings of Howard Thurman.
Selected by Anne Spencer Thurman, page 293
Originally published in The Centering Moment)

I’m struck by the notion of the centering moment as a time to redefine our lives. One of the strengths I have brought to pastoral visits with people is to ask us to reframe our experiences from ones of judgment and condemnation to ones of curiosity and blessing. I’m remembering a Thich Nhat Hanh encouragement to re-think the experience of being passed by a speeding car in traffic. Rather than letting loose the expletives that my injured or envious ego could easily reach, might I say, “Isn’t it something that someone has to get somewhere so soon. May they—and that to which they hurry—be filled with lovingkindness. May they be well. May they be peaceful and at ease. May they be whole.”

What I hear in such an example is that Thurman’s centering moment might become in Thich Nhat Hanh’s practice a kind of habit. I feel called to develop the attitude that, despite any event in this world that is “so sick and weary and desperate,” I might have a habit of curiosity and an expectation that I might find a make a blessing in every situation. This is not unlike to notion I heard during my days of experimenting with evangelicalism (and Catholic charismatics and old fashioned Pentecostalism!) to “praise God in all things.” Despite my growing humanism, and becoming for a while quite distant from the notion God, having an attitude of the celebration of life, personal gratitude and hope for “the good’ to appear in people’s lives helped sustain my bubbly and optimistic personality. Some good there, right?