Leaning into the Center
I have never placed much stock in dreams or their interpretations. Yet, a recent dream left me lingering in silence: I found myself, in the dream, entirely unable to speak.
In the waking world, we often interpret this as a sign of feeling unheard, or struggling to make our deepest thoughts known – a frustrating, isolating sensation.
Perhaps this silence is an invitation instead, to listen to a different kind of movement – the rhythm of God working within us.
Consider the mechanics of a pendulum. In our spiritual lives, we constantly strive for the center. We seek to “center ourselves” before prayer and throughout our busy days to maintain balance and peace.
We treat the middle as the ultimate destination or state of being, but a pendulum at a dead stop in the middle is motionless; it represents lifelessness, no progress and no joy.
Nothing works correctly if the pendulum does not move. The pendulum must swing through the middle, toward one side and then the other, in a constant, dynamic turn.
Without the swing to the left and the right, we can never truly find or appreciate the center.
This beautiful, necessary tension is mirrored in the Holy Trinity. God provides us with the ultimate examples of left, right and center.
Divinity – The transcendent, infinite source.
Humanity – Christ’s lived, embodied experience on earth.
The Living Spirit – The active, breathing presence within us that blends the two.
When we feel silenced or stuck, let us remember that spiritual life is not about static perfection.
It is about the sacred swing between our human struggles and divine grace.
May we embrace the motion, trust the Spirit that binds them and find life in the holy balance.
