the still point

Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is…

Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,

Neither ascent nor decline.  Except for the point, the still point,

.

                               TS Eliot

______________________________

 

this world is in flux

change is happening everywhere, everywhere

 

and it scares us

and we hate it

and we love it

 

it’s a right mess

 

how do we survive this chaos

this swirling cacophony of transformation

 

without becoming fundamentally dishonest

fearful, protective

abusive

violent (we can be violent in many ways)?

 

I was hiking a while back, and decided to go across

a shallow point in the river

how bad could it be?

I could see the bottom…

 

but the waters were deceptive and the river bed

underneath my feet was full of sand and gravel

and older, and weaker, and less stable than I used to be

I felt unstable and anxious

 

Until my feet found a rock

a nice flat, solid rock

a still point

where I could stand, rest, gain my equilibrium

 

we all need a still point

a place to stand

 

but that still point has to be something solid

unchanging

trustworthy

true

 

it cannot be an ideology

it definitely cannot be a person, not even a good person

(although people who support and guide are important)

 

that still place must be the Sacred

in the language I use, that still point is God

 

but even then, it is complex

for our God-image matters

 

how we see God affects how we see ourselves, and how we see the world

 

if God is a judge we will be fearful

if God is retributive we might be cruel

if God plays favorites, we will be arrogant and careless of others

 

if God is love

 

that is the absolute, the still place for me

and I am finding that I can’t just say that

as a tired cliché

I can’t believe it casually and reflexively

 

this is one I have to feel, experience

this reality has to permeate me from my head down to my toes

 

or it can’t be my still place

and it won’t change me

or my relationship to the people around me

 

but when it is real

it leads me to my true self, a self I can hold to as

the words of my bully brain, and the words of others assail me

 

it empowers me to relate to others in a new way

if God is love and my still point is love

 

than I can begin to live love (never perfectly) because

 

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.   Love never fails.” (I Corinthians 13)

 

As Paul reminds us

all else passes away

 

there is no other still point

those that wait upon the Lord

shall renew their strength

shall renew their strength

and renew their strength

 

this day I am reminded

to return to that still place

around which all moves

to that place where I can stand

and breathe

and be recreated

 

to that place

to that One

who is Love