Physically Distanced but Spiritually Connected
The Center That Holds

Storm damage the day after — an old branch falls

Dear Mayfield,
In this web note I’m taking a look at the concept of the center that holds from four perspectives including the natural world, a contemporary person, a biblical personality, and a spiritual practice.  The first perspective is illustrated above.  Sunday into the early afternoon was grey and foggy with wind-driven rain for hours.  Along the route of my Monday morning walk was a large,high branch ripped from an old tree.  Theresa calls such fallen parts tree casualties at Mayfield.  What is most notable about this branch in Lincoln Park is how much of its center is rotted out.  It was no match for the whipping wind on Sunday.  The branch reminds us that from a surface presentation it looked fine.  But when the weather applied enough pressure, the absence of a solid center became evident.

Civil Rights Icon and the Conscience of the Congress, John Lewis, who died on Friday, is considered by many to have been a personal and public center that held consistently across his eighty years. Maria Popova describes Lewis with these words: “Once in a generation, if we are lucky, someone comes about who in every aspect of their being models for us how to do that, how to be that–how to place love at the center, the center that holds solid as all around it breaks, the solid place that becomes the fort of what is unbreakable in us and the fulcrum of change.  Among those rare, miraculous few was John Lewis…”  In his own words, Lewis described for us such a center that holds: “Do not get lost in a sea of despair.  Be hopeful, be optimistic.  Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime.”

In the world of Gospel personalities, the center-holder was Mary of Magdala. Today, July 22 is her feast day. In her 2010 book, The Meaning of Mary: Discovering the Woman at the Heart of Christianity, Cynthia Bourgeault (Episcopal priest, contemplative, scholar, writer, and teacher) reminds us that traditionally our textual movement through the dying,death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth focuses attention on the failure of male disciples to stay awake, to tell the truth about connection with Jesus, and to be present all the way to the grave. Meanwhile, as the story goes, Mary Magdalene remains steady, never turning away even at the end and she is there on Easter morning to come face to face with the resurrected one — undeniable love that is stronger than death.

Those who chart the history of the labyrinth for the last four to five thousand years, tell us that the labyrinth tends to rise in our awareness at times of crisis, transition, and substantial change.  The modern revival of the labyrinth gained momentum in the 1990’s as we readied for a new millenium.  Whether we have walked the labyrinth often or are walking for the first time, whether we are close to the center or far away nearing the edge, whether we are on a long straight section or making quick turns and changing direction, the center holds.  It is always in sight, a visual reassurance no matter the season of life we find ourselves in. Embracing this embodied spiritual practice, we can see a center held.

In the current layering of worldwide crises — medical, emotional, economic, social, racial, spiritual, and environmental — it is not uncommon to wonder how and if a center is holding.  Certainly, in communities of faith, the “How is a center holding?” question is appropriate for us to address.  We name the center that we hope toward and that we imagine forward. Even as we are scattered, we affirm the center that withstands the storm, that is there for the long haul, that allows us to come close to what might break our hearts, and that enters into our very flesh.  We wrestle to accept what that center requires as we seek to  “Simply do justice, love kindness, and humbly walk with our God.” (Micah 6:8)  And we are open to the newness that may in time emerge to revolve around a reliable, Spirit-sustained, life-affirming center.  With an elder tree, with John Lewis, with Mary of Magdala, with the labyrinth we live with the questions that swirl around the center holding.  In creation, in the life of current, courageous prophetic figures, in biblical story, and in spiritual practices that tap the deepest realms of who we are, we place our trust that we will recognize, abide with, and commit to a center that holds.
Peace, Martha

For Our Prayer Lives as a Congregation

  • We rejoice in the lives of civil rights leaders John Robert Lewis and Rev. Cordy Tindell “C.T.” Vivian both of whom died on Friday, July 17.
  • Also, dying on Friday, July 17 was Ann Werhane’s daughter Kate who was diagnosed with lung cancer several years ago. She was still able to be in the water of her beloved San Francisco Bay until just a few weeks prior to her death. Our love and sympathy are with Ann and her family.
  • Prayers of concern for educators around the country and world who are trying to figure out safe and effective ways to have learning underway this fall. We are especially mindful of the teachers, staff, and students of Jane Adeny Memorial School (JAMS) in Kenya and pray for their health and wellbeing.
  • All the summer programs for children, and particularly Hearts for Art in Chicago, who are displaying amazing creativity in online versions of their programming.
  • Diana’s friend Kay whose mother is in the hospital and Carolyn’s mother Virginia who is at DeKalb County Rehab.
  • Diana’s friend Rosie who is struggling with deep concern about friends who are not respecting COVID-19 prevention guidelines.
  • All the healthcare staff working on the difficult front lines of Covid-19.
  • Sue as she continues her life without the companionship of her beloved TJ.
  • J.T.’s mother Betsy in her recovery at home as a broken hip mends.
  • We are thankful for all who have been weeding and mulching in the Monarch Waystation and for Wilma and Marlo who continue to plant and tend a lovely garden in the gravelly soil at the south end of the parking lot.
  • And finally thanks for the beauty of growth on the earth — flowers, vegetables, trees, and creatures, most notably the butterflies and other pollinators. They teach us, are there beside us, and share with us glory and awe for the artistry and magnificent movement of a creating God.

Don’t forget our first Mayfield Zoom Nature Talk with Peggy — 6:30 pm Thursday, July 23 — Make Mine a Hummingbird Garden.  Zoom details were emailed to you yesterday.