Moving Toward The Center

One of my favorite phrases comes from a friend, who would describe someone as a person who “gets to the periphery” of an issue. In other words, in any serious discussion, this person would manage to miss the main point altogether, pushing the discussion instead into the weeds and away from the crux of the matter. Richard Rohr talks about the edge of the inside in a different way, as he makes the case for emphasizing alternative orthodoxy and spending time within the circle of orthodoxy but at the edge, focused on different matters than those at the center.

For today, the center represents what is most important, whether it is found where everyone else is, or where just a few are, or just where you are.

How much of our lives is spent in the weeds instead of on the grass? How much is spent doing the superficial rather than the meaningful, the generative, or the contributive?

I have been imagining what the center of profound living might be for quite a while.

After returning from three months in Italy in November, 2013, I felt I had been called to work in the area of spiritual formation. I wanted to go deeper in my life, to make a positive difference, and I wanted to help others who wanted to do that as well. At the time, I didn’t know what spiritual formation consisted of, I just knew that I wanted to work in the area of spiritual education. I knew and know that the teacher learns as much or more than the students and I was hungry to learn and to do what I could to help others as well. I thought it might play out that I would work in a retreat center or as a retreat facilitator or helper.

As I thought more about this I started writing down what a “center” might be. This is what I wrote just brainstorming in my notebook on March 31, 2014:

Center
Institute
Sangha
Knoll
Oasis
A place
A concept
A gathering
A breakfast group
Oasis – living water, nourishing
Lived experience phenomenology

Center

• Core – apply
• node – network
• heart
• middle
• sports position
• building
• centering – presence
• the essence
• central ideal
• individuation
• the identity
• the depth (Jung)

Cognitive

• Catalyst
• seed
• fertilizer
• the root
• the light
• the torch

So far, it has turned out to be this humble blog and some workshops I have given on the topics of gratitude, humility, and presence at our local library. We will see where the center sets, and of course profound living rests on a broader platform than just spirituality, but I am enjoying this piece so far.

What is the center of profound living? Is it a place? An idea? A practice? A group? Is it a feeling, a process, illumination?

Better, what is the center for you?

Here at Profound Living we will continue to provide ideas, ways to look at the ordinary as something extraordinary (we will seeking "to profundify" life) and, in places like the Profound Living Facebook page and group and in workshops and other interactive opportunities, places to discuss and practice profound living with others.

In all matters, we value humility, gratitude, and generosity of spirit.