Someone sent this to me just before the holidays. I'm not sure where a sense of eternety fits into it for the atheist, but basically yes, exactly.
“How good it is to center down!”
From Howard Thurman’s “Meditations of the Heart”
How good it is to center down!
To sit quietly and see one’s self pass by!
The streets of our minds seethe with endless traffic;
Our spirits resound with clashings, with noisy silences,
While something deep within hungers and thirsts for the still moment and the resting lull.
With full intensity we seek, ere the quiet passes, a fresh sense of order in our living;
A direction, a strong sure purpose that will structure our confusion and bring meaning in our chaos.
We look at ourselves in this waiting moment — the kinds of people we are.
The questions persist: what are we doing with our lives? — what are the motives that order our days?
What is the end of our doings? Where are we trying to go?
Where do we put the emphasis and where are our values focused?
For what end do we make sacrifices? Where is my treasure and what do I love most in life?
What do I hate most in life and to what am I true?
Over and over the questions beat in upon the waiting moment.
As we listen, floating up through all the jangling echoes of our turbulence, there is a sound of another kind –
A deeper not which only the stillness of the heart makes clear.
It moves directly to the core of our being. Our questions are answered,
With the peace of the Eternal in our step.
How good it is to center down!
What a beautiful passage. Its amazing what we can see clearly if we just slow down or stop for awhile to really listen to our hearts and minds.
Posted by: Suzanne | 31 January 2011 at 02:11 PM
To center down is to find inner peace and know what you are in this world. Very nice poem indeed! Nice post!
Posted by: Custom Patches | 30 January 2011 at 12:03 PM
How ya doin'? Miss your voice. Hope you had fun with the marvelous Ms Pearl-McPhee.
Posted by: tina | 27 January 2011 at 07:44 AM
I find a walk in the redwoods the best way to Center down. Its just so darn good to realize just how SMALL and unimportant we all really are. Thanks for sharing; I realize not everyone is lucky enough to live near a Redwood grove.
Posted by: Patti O'Brien | 26 January 2011 at 03:42 PM
Beautiful blog post -- beautiful blog. I've printed this poem and have it on my office wall, right next to me.
Off to center down . . .
Posted by: Lee Bernstein | 26 January 2011 at 09:37 AM
Hi Juno, just this morning I was rifling through your not knitting links, and I read Jennifer Lawler's piece called For Jessica. It centered me down, way down to my core. That thing about putting the stars back together, in the best way you can. Thanks.
Posted by: Melanie | 16 January 2011 at 12:56 PM
It could just as easy be "eternal" vs. "Eternal". The lack of initial cap changes things from my perspective.
How timely this post is. You've some inkling of my life in Pgh, and this resonates strongly. Thank you!
Posted by: Gina | 13 January 2011 at 08:50 PM
i don't think of eternity as religious, more like "the fact that time goes on forever."
Posted by: carolyn | 13 January 2011 at 10:39 AM
Wow. this is amazing! Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Jessie | 13 January 2011 at 10:34 AM