Clay in the Hands

Where is your center today?  You might look at your midsection and say well – right above my naval.  But that is not the center to which I am referring.  What I am asking is where your focus today?  At the heart of who you really are – deep down – that place that defines you as a person.  Our hearts are the center of our being – that place that only you and the Other enter.  Those closest to us know it is there and may have even seen glimpses of it, but they have no idea what all goes on there.

That is the part of you I am asking about today.  Where is your center – your heart – today?  Only you can answer that question.

I can tell you where God would like for it to be; at rest and at ease in the very presence of God.  Just as you long for the constant swirling and pulling to subside within you – God desires it more.

So here is a short little exercise for you to try to help find your center and re-focus yourself for the day ahead:

1. Get up and find a quiet place – maybe it is simply closing the door to your office.
2. Sit still with both feet on the floor and your hands rested in your lap.
3. Close your eyes and humbly ask God to clear your mind and fill your heart.
4. Focus briefly on your breathing and then turn your focus to Jesus.
5. You might even find the Jesus Prayer helpful at this point.  It is an ancient Christian practice that I find meaningful.  You simply repeat this prayer over and over in your mind, “Lord Jesus, Son of the living God, have mercy on me a sinner.”
6. Close by asking God to stay with you throughout this day.

Give this a serious 5 minutes and see what it does for your focus.  With God at our center all else becomes more clear.

Be blessed today!