The Contemplative Companion for Monday, June 5, 2017

“Light shines through the darkness for the upright.” – Psalm 112.4

Perhaps the word “centered” is a helpful way of re-framing the concept of being “upright.”  We are upright because we are centered. Like a spinning top, it remains upright on its centered axis amidst the turns of life. And unlike a spinning top, our centeredness does not come from our movement, but rather from our stillness in the silence.

Remaining centered and upright amidst the spins, turns and darkness of life is a grace. It really can’t be done on our own. We need the light to orientate us to the center. And the light holds us, as if from above. As a fruit of this grace, we experience the quality of living a centered life in the light amidst the darkness.

And we need each other. Community is another grace that supports us and upholds us while we might – for a moment or a season – forget our center and feel very disorientated or defeated. It is true that on any given day not all of us feel centered, but some of us do. And we encourage  one another in this reciprocal way.

Uprightness isn’t about being perfect. It is about saying yes to a particular kind of center upon which our life is orientated and orbits. The light of Christ is this center and we participate in its qualities. And its qualities center us to such a degree that we have a hard time distinguishing in the experience where we end and the center begins. We simply have been centered.

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