Do you have something that centers you?

[Wootah]

Jesus is my rock and my centre (well I try to make that true).

Do you have a centre? What is it?

[OnceConvinced]

My own mind and my own thoughts.

I ponder on the issues I am dealing with and figure out ways to deal with them. I think things through and try to rationalise.

When I was a Christian I used to do the same thing I did now, but I used to think my thoughts as though I were praying them to God. I centred everything on God. It gave me peace and it gave me clarity. I received words of wisdom I believed were from God.

I continue to do that, but I no longer think my thoughts as if praying to God. Yet I achieve exactly the same clarity and peace of mind. I still get those words of wisdom that I once thought were from God.

When people tell me that Jesus is their rock and their centre, I see that as their own mind and their own thoughts. They get there in their quiet place and they pray, meditate or just remain silent. And when they find that clarity and that peace through thinking things through, they attribute it to God.

[Wootah]

My own mind and my own thoughts.

I ponder on the issues I am dealing with and figure out ways to deal with them. I think things through and try to rationalise.

When I was a Christian I used to do the same thing I did now, but I used to think my thoughts as though I were praying them to God. I centred everything on God. It gave me peace and it gave me clarity. I received words of wisdom I believed were from God.

I continue to do that, but I no longer think my thoughts as if praying to God. Yet I achieve exactly the same clarity and peace of mind. I still get those words of wisdom that I once thought were from God.

When people tell me that Jesus is their rock and their centre, I see that as their own mind and their own thoughts. They get there in their quiet place and they pray, meditate or just remain silent. And when they find that clarity and that peace through thinking things through, they attribute it to God.

What kind of church brought you up that way?

I'm not talking about happy thoughts. Im talking about a faith that helps me guide myself.

[ElCodeMonkey]

Do you have a centre? What is it?

Good question. My centre is discussion boards like this one. Agreement or disagreement; the honourable contributors here and elsewhere tend to keep my ambitions for the world achievable and moral.

Best wishes, 2RM.

For real? I find the opposite to be true. The more I try to engage thoughtfully and intellectually with people the more I feel like crap overall. I need to find center outside the forums lest I never be able to participate. I feel like it's beating at the air at best with a slight hope that some invisible someone somewhere benefits from my pointless ramblings. To center myself I must basically talk with myself and remind myself how pointless most anything is overall and that most things are outside my control and thus not my responsibility. I must remind myself that I do such things more as a hobby than anything else lest I lose myself in the futility. Not sure how other people cope with forums for so long. It just feels like broken record repeating all the same things all the time. I can only handle so much

[2ndRateMind]

[Replying to post 13 by ElCodeMonkey]

I'm sure your ramblings are not at all pointless! And it does, I admit, require a certain thickness of skin to participate in open discussion forums, without being emotionally damaged. Nevertheless, I find I learn here (and elsewhere) in two ways: firstly from the responses of others to matters that interest me, and secondly by the responses from me those responses prompt.

As for stuff being pointless, well, I am not so sure. Saving the world seems to me to be a reasonably good idea, not just for my personal benefit, but for that of everyone. So, pick an agenda, such as this, that suits you, and keep on hammering away at it. People read, and it just might be that you are not entirely wasting your time!

Best wishes, 2RM.

[Furrowed Brow]

Jesus is my rock and my centre (well I try to make that true).

Do you have a centre? What is it?

Centre? Hmm. No one thing. No single rock.

Life has a regularly pattern which I like and kind of rely on. I spend most of my time at home in bed or my armchair. These two pieces of furniture are very central.

Red wine.

My son.

My health.

On reflection I'd say a happy life is about having somethings to rely on like a roof over your head, a couple of good friends, a favourite armchair and family. Knowing stuff is not permanent makes the important stuff more precious. I don't rely on much or expect much. If everything was ripped away I'd find a way to carry on.

[Dimmesdale]

Jesus is my rock and my centre (well I try to make that true).

Do you have a centre? What is it?

I think this is an important question, and one that has dipped below the radar in modern discourse.

I at times wonder what, practically, I have that "centers me" in the midst of my ever-changing mind. That which does has to be real, more real to me than simply thoughts that come and go. Even convictions of what is true, are in the end thoughts, and so shouldn't be considered of absolute importance. What matters, I think, is the unbreakable reality that thoughts may point to (together with things such as silence, contemplation, etc).

I wish that Jesus Christ could be a living presence in my life, that I could have a personal relationship or be in touch with a Reality that gives substance to my daily living. To even be able to concentrate and focus one's mind upon such an object, is I think an enormously positive contribution to one's inner life, as opposed to merely outer life.

But, I think that any thought will in the end serve the same purpose, and in the end it too must be abandoned in the face of the Reality to which it points. That is my opinion.

[2Dbunk]

Do you have a centre? What is it?

My center is the Cosmos.

As self-centered as I may be, it is the Cosmos that give me my existence: the sun’s nurturing rays, without I would be nothing; the elements make up my being, in sync with the above; the laws of nature buoy my experience – continuously. Life, a mystery still, is a driving force of momentous proportion . . . to MORE than just survive.