Mark Katrick faith column: When life goes from rested to rattled, center yourself in Christ

It was a beautiful Saturday. The sunshine was glorious. There was nary a cloud, and the sky had deep layers of calming blue.

As a graduate of the Wellstreams class of 2021, I had been asked to be a greeter (and a program hander-outer) for the class of 2023’s graduation ceremony. What a great joy it brought (way down in my heart, as the hymn says) to be with colleagues and friends in celebration of the gifts and talents of these newly certified spiritual guides.

At the end of that bright and blessed day, I was thoroughly exhausted in a good way. So I sat down in my recliner for just a few minutes. An hour later I awakened in a start and reached for my cellphone to check the time. The clock said 8:30. The dawn had turned to dusk. Or had the dusk turned to dawn?

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I felt like a character from my favorite childhood TV show, “Lost in Space.” In a matter of seconds, I went from rested to rattled, from peaceful sleep to a state of panic that I’d be late for church. Instinctively, I did what any of that multitude of spiritual guides that I’d been with a few hours earlier, would invite me to do: “Take deep breaths, and let it be.” Then, I was able to breathe out my anxieties and breathe in the realization that it was time to make supper and not breakfast.

For one reason or the other, there are times that we get disoriented, physically, emotionally and spiritually. To get reoriented, it’s always a good thing to search for and find our center, the Holy One who gives us our lives and breaths.

My center has always been the Christ within. At that moment of being tossed about by the squall and waves (Mark 4:37), it was the voice of Jesus who made things completely calm (Mark 4:39) for the disciples.

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for this follower of Jesus to realize it was still Saturday. And all was well with my soul (with my soul).

During those occasional moments of disorientation, when you are lost in space, here are two verses from scripture I keep tucked away in my reorientation file:

“Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7.

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” John 14:27.

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To slow your respirations, you can make breath prayers out of these:

Breathe in “Christ’s peace.” And breathe out “all your troubles and fears.”

Breathe in “Christ’s care.” And breathe out “your anxieties” because he cares for you.

For any occasion you go from rested to rattled, you can always turn to something that is tested, tried and true; Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer:

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Mark Katrick is a pastor and spiritual guide.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Mark Katrick faith column: From rested to rattled, Christ reorients