For the past few weeks I have spent time most mornings on our back porch – the dog and I. Our yard is surrounded by trees of several varieties (most of which I found out I’m allergic to, ugh…), and there’s usually a slight breeze. I watch the squirrels play, and listen to the frogs and the birds – I am surprised but pleased I can still hear them – and I pray as the spirit moves. It is very peaceful. Today I’m sitting with the rain, enjoying the sound of it on the metal roof, the cooling breeze the storm has brought – rocking and typing (boy do I like wireless!). …what you can’t feel as you read this are the long pauses between typing - it will take me longer than usual to finish this post, but that is fine. I used to get up in the morning and rush into my day, but I am trying to learn to move out of a place of centeredness. And I am trying to learn to simply be… Some days I sit only for a few minutes, other days I sit for a half-hour or longer. How long is not important and I resist setting any agenda (boy is that hard!), I sit until I feel it’s time to move to the next thing. I am gradually beginning to feel a change within me – a slowing of the frenetic pace within – that lasts long into the day. …unfortunately one that’s still too easy to leave behind in the demands of ministry that is never finished. …ahh, change within sometimes comes slowly.
What do you do to find your centeredness?
4 comments:
I envy you the porch and trees - your blog reminds me of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings - she wrote her books on her porch with a manual typewriter. We've cove a long way!
One of the things that centers me is a long drive to the country - I love seeing the pastures, fields, chickens, cows and quilts on the line - reminds me of my childhood - which was a very safe place to be. The countryside is calming to me. Unfortunately, it seems to take longer and longer to get to the "country" anymore. And I don't get to do it often, so the feeling has to stay with me for awhile.
I'm still rushing into my day full speed ahead - I have to stop every so often and remember the countryside.
Tony planted a vegetable garden this year. Everyday I have found myself drawn to it. I walk the rows, see what's blooming, see what needs to be picked. I have found that it is really calming to me. I feel like I can breathe out there. Harvesting the vegetables, I think, is kind of "centering" me. I have been putting some away in the freezer for a time when nothing is growing. This could be considered a chore, but it feels good that this garden is providing food for my family and, in some ways, a different kind of nourishment for me.
Corinne,
I learned on a typewriter - carbon paper and correction tape, boy I don't miss that!
I enjoy long drives, too - not necessarily to any particular destination. I think that's one of the reasons I was able to stand seminary being in Orlando and driving once a week for four years - it was my quiet, thinking, calming time.
The countryside - you know, it's interesting how easily a mental image can do the same thing for me as the real thing sometimes, especially when the original image is a strong one. Perhaps not always as well as the real thing, but the effects are there nonetheless. Have you ever tried keeping a 'country' photo (one with meaning to you) in a strategic place so that you can glimpse it during the day for centering? Just a thought.
Blessings.
Jolie,
I firmly believe that earth is grounding (no pun intended!). I find that touching and holding soil has that effect on me. I enjoy weeding - not that you can tell it by my yard. But it provides me time to return to the most basic things. Harvesting, caring for your family, providing for their most basic needs - yes, I can see that could become centering, providing you spiritual nourishment.
Sometimes when I used to teach and the concepts would get really abstract, I would find myself taking my shoes off while I taught to help feel connected and grounded. ...hmm, hadn't thought about that in a long time.
Peace.
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