How it got started
How Good to Center Down!
By Howard Thurman
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?
What is the end of our doings? Where are we trying to go? Where do we put the emphasis and where are our values focused? For what end do we make sacrifices?
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!
—
Howard Washington Thurman was an African-American author, philosopher, theologian, educator, civil rights leader, and mentor to Martin Luther King Jr. This prayer comes from his book, Meditations of the Heart, p.28.
https://shalem.org/2018/01/19/how-good-to-center-down/
In March 2020, Covid-19 entered more mainstream discussion on the East Coast of the United States. Quickly, the topics of necessary quarantine emerged. A few friends who connect deeply over topics of Christian spirituality, began wondering what it might look like to create a retreat for anyone to use who might find themselves with a few weeks of solitude, away from people, places, and spaces in which they would normally seek God.
Many of us saw first hand how the unexpected removal from a normally interacting physical world could bring loneliness, a million questions, boredom, feelings, and sense of upheaval to what was previous normal living. We shared a vision that an online retreat could not only ease the discomfort of quarantine, but provide a resource to spend intentional time reflecting in Christian faith.
Over the course of a few weeks, an eight person team formed from Boston to New York to Northern Virginia. This team prayerfully worked for two months in brainstorms, research, and discernment to capture a multi-layered retreat experience for you. Our team prayerfully wishes each day’s components of this retreat to bless, comfort, engage and sustain you through this two week solitude of your life.
Planning Team:
Chris Addis, 27 is an Eastern Orthodox Christian living in Cambridge, MA. He currently works as a Legislative Aide in the Massachusetts House of Representatives and before that worked in Pediatric Obesity public health. He loves video games and choir.
Jeremy Bradley, 33, is a Postulant for Holy Orders from the Episcopal Diocese of Texas with over ten years of experience in Youth and Young Adult Ministry. Currently, he attends Virginia Theological Seminary and basks in the joy of raising a one-year-old child, Jonah, with his partner Lauren.
LeeAnn Gumulauskas, 42, is a follower of Jesus, wife to a future priest, parent to teenagers and toddlers, and a Licensed Professional Counselor who is passionate about conveying hope and helping people heal.
Annie Jung, 42, is a modern Christian woman who enjoys exploring and sharing the full spectrum of life with her husband and three children. She is also a seminarian, pursuing the Episcopal Priesthood, representing the Diocese of Louisiana. She also has a background in Mass Communication and Community Counseling. Her hope is that everyone will live deeply into their divinely gifted purpose.
Gabriella Makuc, 25, is Roman Catholic and from Massachusetts. She will soon begin Master of Divinity studies at Boston University School of Theology. It is her hope to bear witness to the essential giftedness at the heart of all things.
Demarius Walker, 29, hails from Atlanta, GA. He is a spiritual seeker and has travelled the globe in religious studies, conversation, and willingness to learn through holy listening. He is currently a Master of Arts student at Virginia Theological Seminary.
Joanna DeHaan Unangst, 41, is a postulant for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church, and currently lives a colorful life with her books, spouse, kids, and pets in Alexandria, Virginia. She was previously a psychotherapist, and takes great joy in walking with others on a path of verdancy and playfulness as we find our true identities as a sacred community with the Divine and with all creation.
William Yagel is a 45 year old Masters of Divinity student in Alexandria. He was a General Contractor in his previous career, and has spent the last 13 years on a farm south of Charlottesville, VA.
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Acknowledgments:
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Thanks to Kathryn Coneway who allowed us to use some of her images. You can view her work here.
Kathryn was born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1975. She received her BA with distinction from the University of Virginia in 1997. Following graduation, she completed an independent study in photography, sculpture and painting at the Burren College of Art in County Clare, Ireland. She received her MA in Art Therapy from George Washington University in 2003. From 2008-2015, Kathryn directed Art at the Center, a studio lab for children and families she co-founded in Fairfax County. She also served as a clinical supervisor for the GW Art Therapy Program and as an internship supervisor for Marymount University and George Mason University. Kathryn is most energized by how community forms around creative practice. Her own creative practice grounds her work in group facilitation.