By Pastor Paul Harris
"Balanced or Centered?"
People often talk about the need for balance in their lives and lament the seeming impossibility of living a truly balanced life.  For good reason.  Finding balance seems to be a perpetually elusive quest, evading even those who most earnestly seek it.  Think about it literally.  How could you physically balance a loved one, a job, skiing, a child, and God?  Taken seriously, it becomes a crazy idea and a hopeless goal.
 
This Lent many at Easter are reading and discussing Jack Fortin's fine book, "The Centered Life."  Fortin suggests that, while balance may be impossible, it is possible to live a life centered on God in which conflicting parts of our life find their proper place and coherence.
 
Using "The Centered Life" as a guide for our Lenten journey, we are called to pay attention to our discontent and to our deep longing for a life centered on God.  Here are some questions which are helpful to use in examining our lives.  We do this not to provoke dismay, but to help ourselves understand where we are and where we are going.  I invite you to spend some time pondering these statements, ranking each on a 1-10 scale expressing how true each one is of you.
 
1. I regularly take time to reflect on God's work in my life.
2. I genuinely feel guided by God each day in the decisions I make.
3. Others can see my faith in action in the way I tackle daily tasks.
4. When things are tough for me, I get encouragement from other church members.
5. Knowing my own strengths helps me see how God has called me to serve others.
6. I see my work as a calling.
7. God created me with a unique pattern of strengths and talents.
8. Each day I am able to see how God is sending me out to do God's work.
9. I feel strongly connected to people in my church.

Once you have done this exercise, I encourage you to think about how
your rankings compare to what you want in your deepest heart.  Pray for
God to help you to live the life your believe God is calling you to
live.

A truly Christ-centered life flows from the core of our being -- from
God, who is the still point of our revolving world.  Jesus says, "Seek
first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and all these things
will be added unto you."

We aren't called to give God 10% in our balancing act; we are called to
give God 100% and to believe that, when God is at the center, the other
parts will take their proper place.

The centered life allows us to major in majors, to put things into
perspective, and to trust God to help us live from the unchanging
center.

Pastor Paul