What is your anchor?

Carole had a plumb-line installed in her office.  It hangs from the ceiling, centered in front of the window at eye level.  

It’s a perfectly turned and polished brass weight, tapered to a fine point and suspended by a thin filament of cord.  Elegant. 

She’s an architect. She knows that a plumb line may be the most ancient of precision instruments.  Left undisturbed, it points unmoving and without fail to the center of the planet.  Disturbed and left to swing free, it becomes a pendulum used to mark time for centuries. 

As Carole matured, she became aware that life itself is movement, interspersed with quietude to make space for that movement. 

Our language describes life as “function and growth” (Oxford Dictionary), “processing food for energy and growth” (Webster), “metabolism, reproduction, internally initiated adaptations to the environment” (Funk & Wagnalls).  All these things are active, moving.  And for humans, activity must cycle with rest so that there can be more activity – a continuation of life. 

When Carole’s day gets frantic and full of aggravation…   When struggles with forms and imagery and the people who pay for them raises her stress, she can stop for a moment and turn to look at her living anchor. She knows what it is and what it does and it brings her a God-like peace, so that life can begin again. 

It’s okay to search for symbols that bring spiritual peace.  Pictures of Jesus are repugnant to me, but a sleeping kitten reminds me that God creates life and peace constantly.