Centering

I was mindmapping the word "centering," which came up in The Art of Aikido.  After a few minutes, I had several different paths to follow:  physical, spiritual, emotional.  There is also personal as well as corporate and family, and probably a dozen other types and styles of centering.  There is also centering prayer, although I can't find my book by Richard Foster right now.

In aikido, you center by placing your attention on your center of gravity.  Most people think of their "self" as being in their head, but by lowering your "self" to your center of gravity, you become more stable, and more graceful.

You can do this in other areas of your life, too.  Although, I'm not sure of everything Leonard is trying to teach.  As a Christian, I view what he says through the lens of the Bible, and some of it is off base.  But, the basic principle is still applicable.

As Christians, what is our "center"?  It is more than the Church, more than Christianity, more than the Bible.  He is Jesus Christ.  When we place Him at the center of our whole life, we become "more stable, and more graceful."  This is how great Christians of the past, and the present, have weathered the storms of life.  It is how Christians have drawn others to Him, by the grace with which we deal with life.

It was this appearance of centeredness that drew so many to the churches of America right after 9/11.  It was the lack of Jesus in so many Christian lives that let them slip away. 

I'll be dealing more with "centeredness" in the next few days, and what it means to me.