Reflecting on Our Capacity

When class began, the professor asked us to get out our phones. “What percentage is the battery charged?” she asked. We each responded in turn. Then she asked us to put away our phones and to look deeply into our hearts. “What percentage is your battery charged?” she asked. This required an honest assessment of our mental, emotional, physical and spiritual capacity at the moment. After each of us responded, she informed us that it would be a particularly heavy day. We were training to become chaplains and that day’s class was about human trafficking in the U.S. We needed to gauge our capacity – how “charged” we were – and adjust for ongoing stability throughout the day. We needed to know how much power we had left … or if our personal battery was going to die before class ended. Several times during the following eight hours, we were asked to pause, search within, and rate our capacity, our strength, our level of stability, and to determine what, if anything, we needed to do to maintain sustainability.

The early Church fathers and mothers sometimes referred to this idea as “centering prayer.” They would take “sabbath minutes” several times during each day to close their eyes, quiet their minds, and connect with the Spirit of God. “The kingdom of God is within me,” they contemplatively repeated aloud. Slowly, gently they reminded themselves who they were in Christ, who God was, and the greater purpose to which they were called.

Take a moment now to pause.

Breathe deeply.

What percentage is your battery charged?

Is there anything that needs to change in order to maintain sustainability?

Today, may the Spirit remind you to center yourself in Him. May you be buoyed by the secure knowledge that He is for you, with you, and in you right now. May you be rooted and grounded deep into the soil of God’s unending love.