I hope you understand what I mean when I speak of living out of the Center. I am of course referring to God, but I do not mean God in an abstract, theoretical sense, nor even God in the sense of the One to be feared and revered. Nor do I mean God only in the sense of One to be loved and obeyed. For years I loved God and sought to obey him, but he remained on the periphery of my life. God and Christ were extremely important to me but certainly not the Center. After all, I had many tasks and aspirations that did not relate to God in the least. What, for heaven's sake, did swimming and gardening have to do with God? I was deeply committed, but I was not integrated or unified. I thought that serving God was another duty to be added to an already busy schedule.
But slowly I came to see that God desired to be not on the outskirts, but at the heart of my experience. Gardening was no longer an experience outside of my relationship with God - I discovered God in my gardening. Swimming was no longer just good exercise - it became an opportunity for communion with God. God in Christ had become the Center.
