How good it is to center down!
To sit quietly and see one’s self pass by!
The streets of our minds seethe with endless traffic;
Our spirits resound with clashing, with noisy silences,
While something deep within hungers and thirsts for the still moment
and the resting lull.
With full intensity we seek, ere thicket passes, a fresh sense of order
in our living;
A direction, a strong sure purpose that will structure our confusion
and bring meaning in our chaos.
We look at ourselves in this waiting moment—the kinds of people we are.
The questions persist: what are we doing with our lives?—what are the motives that order our days?. . .
Where is my treasure and what do I love most in life?
What do I hate most in life and to what am I true?
Over and over the questions beat upon the waiting moment.
As we listen, floating up through all of the jangling echoes of our turbulence, there is a sound of another kind—
A deeper note which only the stillness of the heart makes clear.
It moves directly to the core of our being. Our questions are answered,
Our spirits refreshed, and we move back into the traffic of our daily round
With the peace of the Eternal in our step.
How good it is to center down!
-Rev Howard Thurman
Howard Thurman, an author, philosopher, chaplain, theologian, educator, and civil rights leader served as a mentor to Martin Luther King Jr. As the Dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University, he was the first African-American Dean in a predominantly white college community. In the turbulent years fighting for racial and economic justice during the civil rights movement, Thurman’s words and ministry created a persistent and gentle reminder on the importance of tending to the soul and “centering down.”
In my first religion class this year, we read Thurman’s meditation “Centering Down” together in a circle, standing outside Belmont chapel near the statue of the St. Mark’s Lion. This year, we are able to take our masks off outside, creating face to face conversation again as part of the classroom experience—
it is wonderful!
As we read Thurman’s meditation, students were invited to choose one line that spoke to them most urgently. Many students were drawn to the line:
“The streets of our minds seethe with endless traffic; Our spirits resound with clashing, with noisy silences, while something deep within hungers and thirsts for the still moment and the resting lull.”
Whether we are part of the civil rights movement, as Thurman was, or living in a world trying to heal from a global pandemic and promote racial reconciliation, the hunger for the “still and quiet mind” persists. As we discussed Thurman’s words, the students acknowledged the importance of setting positive intentions each day, recognizing that they can make choices each to promote a sense of inner peace. What practices do you use each day?
As part of our holistic educational outcomes, St. Mark’s values the importance of “cultivating knowledge of self, including healthy habits of mind, body, and spirit.” Mindfulness moments are discussed in school meetings and classrooms, meditations are offered in the dorm and practiced on the athletic fields, we offer yoga classes for students, faculty, and staff, and all students are required to participate in mindfulness practices as part of our orientation and the Third Form Saturday classes.
While our minds will continue to “seeth with endless traffic,” we have practices here at St. Mark’s that guide us to find the “still moment and resting lull” within the quickening pace of this new school year.
