In a previous column, there were a few references to the beloved merry-go-round, an apparatus known for creating plenty of nausea in the bellies of children everywhere. Since I couldn’t resist this abomination, I discovered a way to manage its effects on me. I rode in the center of it. Though I still felt lousy occasionally, at least I didn’t fall off. The center became my happy place.
Summers gave me many opportunities to find multiple happy places, especially when food was involved. My dad shared my love of watermelons, which we would often partake of in our kitchen if my mother wasn’t home. She turned a strange color and uttered some strong statements regarding my dad’s health when she caught us eating them in the house. According to her, watermelons were meant for the far recesses of the backyard, and the rinds were to be disposed of as if they were nuclear waste.
It didn’t take long to discover that watermelons were best eaten from the center. The combination of fewer seeds and sweeter morsels made the center the place to be. No matter where I had to eat it; any day with a watermelon was a good day,
Recently, I found myself in the midst of a not-so-good day. Even watermelon wouldn’t have helped. I had an appointment in Valdosta, for which I was fashionably late. Matters got much worse when I was summoned to the hospital to pick up records I didn’t know I needed. Of course, I went to the wrong department, and was forced to the other side of the building to retrieve my records.
As I finally made it back to my vehicle, I was fuming at the thought of how late I was going to be. My temper was getting a bit testy, when all of a sudden, my tantrum was interrupted by a still, small voice invading my madness with wisdom. It was a God moment. “Center,” was the beginning of the conversation, but there was more. “Keep Me in the center. You can be late, miss your appointment, burn a tank of gas and miss a day’s work, and it will still be okay. I am all that matters, so center yourself on that.”
Suddenly, my temper calmed and I took a deep breath, smiled with a fresh sense of purpose and prepared to miss my appointment in style. The ride to Valdosta was filled with worship and gratitude for God’s patience. When I sheepishly approached the receptionist upon my arrival, she sent me right into my appointment like I owned the place.
I found the center, and it was sweeter than the best watermelon could have ever been. The rest of my day was flawless in my estimation, not because everything went right, but because I was right on the inside. It was a great lesson that we all need, and it’s so easy to forget as the world throws a vast array of requirements at us daily.
King Solomon surely had a lot on his plate, overseeing a kingdom and keeping up a different wife for each day of the year (he had 700 wives). Yet, in Ecclesiastes 12:13, he says, “This is the end of the matter; all has been heard: Fear God, and keep His commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.” That is more than a command; it’s a compass for life.
Now, before you go trying to figure out how to keep all of His commandments, focus on the main one: “Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all your heart, soul and mind.” While no one achieves this all of the time, it is the perfect place to center our daily pursuits. The closer we remain to Him, the less things of earth matter, even if they seem terribly important. If they need doing, we can trust God to make it happen.
You, too, can be late, spill coffee down your white shirt, lose the car keys, and still, everything will be okay. If you choose the Lord over your circumstances, you can rise above them all, looking like a boss who owns the place.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:7)