When the center flies apart, we are lost. When the center holds, we find our way by constantly referring to that inner reference point.
In many ways, the center is like the North Star. Without it high in our personal sky, we can become easily lost. With it there, it takes only a glance to know which way we are going and how that journey is likely to end.
Many people waste precious years of their lives trying to find their own center. In this big and varied world, there are just too many places to get lost, searching, if we no longer have a clue to how to find our center. We can make our lives revolve around other people, around our jobs, around our possessions, or around our addictions, to name only a few possibilities.
Society gets in the act, too, telling us where we should put our center. Our parents probably told us that the family was the center of our world. They certainly impressed us with their values. And while this is a parent's job, tragically, it can sometimes steer you away from your own unique center.
The process doesn't end with childhood, either. If you're married, your husband or wife undoubtedly wants very much to be the center of your world. Your boss expects you to at least act as if your job is the center or your world, and if you have your own business you know that it will consume enough time to effectively become the center of your world.
Not surprisingly, however, we find our real center within ourselves. We were born with it and when we die, it is the only thing we will take with us on that penultimate journey. But this knowledge is often of little practical help. We lay awake at night and wonder what lies at our center when the family and the spouse and the job are stripped away. Who are we really? What should we be doing with our lives?
In ancient times, we would have gone to consult the oracle. Oracles are more difficult to find in the 21st century, but they have not vanished from our world. Nor will they, ever. The truth is the universe is not the orderly place once envisioned by 19th century science where everything marched to the drumbeat of the laws of science and we had only to discover the complete list to know it all. The universe we know - the realm of time and space - holds a tiny spark of chaos at its heart, the power that wants to spin all things away from the center. That is why it is indeed necessary to consult the oracle, to find the center, and to hold firm in the midst of the storm.
