The Very Center

The Bible is a "worldly" book in the sense that
it sees God at the very center of man's life,
his work, his relations with his fellow man,
his play and his joy.

Thomas Merton

Opening the Bible

My Storms

The storm has passed.

I've learned a little more about peace.

It was inside all the time.

Having wandered from any true sense of
a spiritual home and any real sense of direction,
I was lost and hungered hopelessly for I know know what.

God, however, is a tireless seeker.

Forgive And Love

Digging Into Our Spiritual Resources

When someone hurts us, offends us, ignores us, or rejects us, a deep inner protest emerges.
It can be rage or depression, desire to take revenge or an impulse to harm ourselves.
We can feel a deep urge to wound those who have wounded us or to withdraw in a suicidal mood of self-rejection.
Although these extreme reactions might seem exceptional, they are never far away from our hearts.
During the long nights we often find ourselves brooding about words and actions we might have used in response to what others have said or done to us.

It is precisely here that we have to dig deep into our spiritual resources and find the center within us, the center that lies beyond our need to hurt others or ourselves, where we are free to forgive and love.

-- Henri Nouwen

Elder's Meditation -- A Place Of Knowing

Inside of every man and woman is a place of knowing.
In this place is the knowing that there is a Great One, the Great Mystery, the Holy One, the Great Spirit.
We can deny this all we want but we know what we know.
This place of knowing is at the very center of our being.
It is gratifying to know that God cannot leave us.
It is said we are spiritual beings trying to be human.
With this power in our lives, we can accomplish much.
We can do many good things for our people.

Oh Great Spirit, I know of Your power.

I love the days when I can feel Your presence.

Let today be one of those days.

Let me walk today in Your beauty.

Elder's Meditation -- Our Center

Our bodies are both physical and spiritual.
At our very center we are spiritual.
Our bodies are built around the spiritual.
The center is the unseen world.
Therefore, we cannot see it with our eyes and we tend to judge the body because we can see it.
The body is not who we are.
We can see the spiritual if we are spiritual ourselves.
We won't see this always with our physical eyes.
Usually we will see it with our spiritual eye.
We will hear ourselves say "I know this to be true."

At the center of all human beings is the place of good.

That includes myself.

At my very core is good.

I can find this place by staying free of
resentments, fear, dishonesty and self-seeking motives.

My Creator, keep me free this day of
resentment, selfishness, dishonesty and fear.

Retire To Calmness

Retire to the center of your being,
which is calmness.

--Paramahansa Yogananda

Elder's Meditation -- The Four Winds

Each of the four directions has special powers.
These powers or Grandfathers are there to help us.
The powers are from the East, the South, the West, and the North.
To call upon the power we need to stand in the center and face each of the directions and honor all forms of life in each direction.
Facing the East we honor all the two legged, four legged, winged ones, plants' nation and the animals.
We repeat this prayer in each of the four directions.
This allows us to become centered.
When we are centered, then we are ready to call the helpers.
It is said, when the student is ready, the teacher appears.
If we are to be ready, we need to remember to always get quiet first.
We do this by honoring and praying to the four directions.

Grandfathers from the four directions,

come to me today with Your powers.

Give me Your gifts so I can serve the people.

A Sacred Center

In the center of the circle is where the powers reside. These powers are called love, principle, justice, spiritual knowledge, life, forgiveness and truth. All these powers reside in the very center of the human being.

We access these powers by being still, quieting the mind.

If we get confused, emotionally upset, feel resentment, anger, or fear, the best thing we can do is pray to the Creator and ask Him to remove the anger and resentment. By asking Him to remove these obstacles, we are automatically positioned in the sacred center.

Only in this way do we know right from wrong.

Creator, allow me this day to live in the sacred center.