Building One Another  

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. I Thessalonians 5:11

Center Down – finding calm in the storm!

Dear Friend,                                      

In these days in which so many people feel on edge, it’s helpful to know the Quakers have an interesting and very useful expression, to center down. To center down is to create still moments in your life and reconnect with the presence of God and be refreshed.

One of the things that amazes me about Jesus Christ is that whether he was surrounded by pressing people or in a boat careening in a raging storm, there was always a centered-ness about him, a still center within him.

Create still moments in your life.  As a friend pointed out to me, when many of us have a quiet moment, we actually create noise with our phones and computers by or turning on the television for the background noise it brings.  To center down, you must first create still moments, some quiet moments in your life. Get alone, read Scripture, pray.

Bob Oerter who was pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Boulder, Colorado many years ago, was speaking to a group of us who were all crazy busy when he said, “Learn to live with the load of the unfinished!”

That good word stunned us and I have returned to it many times. You will always have a “do-list,” so learn to stop, to “center down” and be refreshed by your Lord! Bob reminded me that the real issue isn’t my “do-list” but being centered on the Lord who loves us. To center down is to practice Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God!”

Center down by setting aside a few moments in your life to focus on the presence of God, to listen, to read the Bible and to pray about the matters on your heart. Decide now to make this a daily practice and when and where you will do it.

Then extend the idea of centering down beyond your relationship with God to your relationships with people. When will you be with those you need to be with – in-person, by phone or online? Make it so!

Joy to you -- E. Stanley Ott            

© Copyright 2020 E. Stanley Ott

Scripture from the ESV

‍

1. What are the storms in life you are facing - situations that you know have you "on edge?"
2. How to you understand the meaning of the Quaker phrase, "Center Down?"
3. What are some ways you can and will center down and reconnect with the presence of your Lord?
4. What is your reaction to the word of Bob Oerter, "Learn to live with the load of the unfinished?"
5. What are the pressing matters that are unfinished in your life that you will entrust to our Lord as you seek to center down and to be still and know that God is God?

‍

Photo by Joshua Reddekopp on Unsplash