The Divine Center (Steven R Covey)

 

I received this book as part of a Christmas gift exchange....something someone had on their shelf that they didn't want anymore but couldn't just throw out. It appeared to be unread. It took me a while to get around to reading it, but I'm glad I did. It gave me a  lot to think about. It felt like the author got a little deeper into why the things the church teaches matter.

Notes

p. 21 Power is the faculty or the capacity to act.

Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;

For the power is in them, wherein they are agenda unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward (D&C 58:27-28)

...the capacity to change one's nature and to become, as Peter puts it, a partake of the Divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-8).

p. 109 The family is central in Heavenly Father's plan....the scaffolding is all other Church programs and activities.......The scaffolding is the extension of home life, so we should always be recommitting ourselves to the principles of gospel-centered living as well as to the outreach effort to take the scaffolding to all of our Heavenly Father's children so that they too can have the blessings

p. 114 Inactive or Active?
I was once home teaching a family whose son had strayed from "the Church," and the parents were beside themselves with grief over what to do. At one point, I said, "I notice that your son frequently visits with you, and this shows a lot of love and loyalty ot the family." The parents responded, "Yes, he's a very good person in that way. We only wish he would be more active in the Church."

I then taught the concept discussed above and explained that their son was active in certain aspects of the fundamental unit of the Church but was not at this point engaged in the scaffolding work. I told them that they should not condemn or label their son, because these labels tend to become self-fulfilling and they frequently are inaccurate anyway. By loving the son unconditionally and setting a good example themselves and trying to be understanding, I suggested, they would be modeling gospel values; then, little by little, with patience and prayer, they would probably see the son become increasingly active in the Gospel and on the scaffolding. And this did come to pass. 

Goodreads says:

A classic book available for the first time in paperback All of us at some point search for an organizing principle in life, one that is simple without being simplistic, that offers enduring direction. The book introduces, explains, and illuminates such a principle – centering one’s life on Christ. It examines twelve other "centers" and their effect on key dimensions of our our security, guidance, wisdom, and power. Although those other perspectives offer some value, only the "divine center" meets all the tests. This powerful principle is given life by an inspiring presentation of "how-tos" –imaginative, thought-provoking explanations of the divine-centering process and steps necessary to achieve the goal.

The Power of Ritual (Casper Ter Kuile)

 

I really loved this author's take on religious and spiritual practices. For people struggling with their faith, this book might give them some ideas for how to continue a relationship with the divine rather than abandon everything.

He says: You already have a host of rituals we might call spiritual practices - even if you'd never use that language. Reading, walking, eating, resting, reflecting: these are legitimate and worthy of your attention and care, and they can be the foundation of a life of deep connection. He challenges us to take the power from and have permission to be creative in combining the ancient and the emergent. (p. 185)

Connecting With Self: The Art of Sacred Reading

p. 36 ...reading is not just something we can do to escape the world, but rather that it can help us live more deeply in it. 

p. 37 ...they help us know who we are and decide who we might want to become. 

p. 51 Saint Anselm had advised his wealthy patron, Countess Matilda of Tuscany, that if she read a sacred text her goal was not to finish reading it, but instead to read only as much as would stir her mind to prayer. ...Monastic communities didn't read a book only once-there were far too few precious volumes for that anyway! Rereading, and reading out loud, were how monks studied a text, leading them up the ladder...reading, meditating, praying, and contemplating. 

1. What's literally happening in the narrative? Where are we in the story?
2. What allegorical images, stories, songs or metaphors show up for you?
3. What experiences have you had in your own life that come to mind?
4. What action are you being called to take?

Connecting With Self: Sabbath Time
p. 78 Ultimately, a sabbath of some form or another is necessary for connecting with ourselves...Sabbath gives us perspective. It reconnects us with our imagination. We can envision new ways in which the world might work. "Sabbath is not simply the pause that refresher. It is the pause that transforms." (Walter Brueggemann)

- Tech Sabbath (total break from technology
- Sabbath From Others (alone time)
- Sabbath From Work To Make Room For Play

Connecting With Others

p. 82 The people who were most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at age 80...on the days when they had more physical pain, older people in satisfying relationships were just as happy as they were on the days when they felt fine. But for the elder participants who had unsatisfying relationships, their physical pain was magnified by emotional pain. 

Connecting With Nature

- walking
- pilgrimages
- permission to be creative
- celebrate the seasons

p. 123 This practice of circumambulation is a key spiritual tool to transform any journey into a pilgrimage. By making repeated circles around our destination, we created a sacred center. Our journey itself honors what we leave in the middle. (examples: Kaaba...the holy mosque in Mecca which pilgrims walk seven times at the end of the hajj). Circumambulation allows us to see every angle of our destination or the object of our veneration

Connecting with Transcendence

Types of prayer

p. 156 adoration - the first step to deeper awareness is about getting radically away from ourselves, to decenter our individual experience and seek to place ourselves in service of, or to become part of, something bigger than us.

p. 161 contrition - What have I done that has caused pain or suffering? What have I left undone that might have served others? For what do I need forgiveness?
p. 164 explore how you might incorporate physical movement. My experience has been that on the days where there is simply too much to say, sitting on my knees and bowing forward, placing my head on the floor, offers its own prayer of contrition. 

p. 168 thanksgiving
p. 170 Giving thanks to that source of goodness outside ourselves-whether a specific person, the luck of a certain opportunity, or something more deeply spiritual - contributes to reorienting our lives away from the dominant cultural narrative of our own successes, desires, and ambitions and toward a perspective that is more holistic.
p. 172 Imagine you only have a year left to live. What might you do with the time you have left? Spend some time thinking or journaling. Visualize where you might go, who you'd want to talk to. What you'd stop doing. Now imagine you only have a week. How might you choose to spend your last days? What would your last meal be? Who would you walk with? Now imagine it is your last hour live. And then your last minute. Your last breath. This very breath you're breathing right now.
p. 173 You might download an app like WeCroak, which pings you five times a day to remind you of your coming death. Or you can find a short phrase to say out loud as you put on moisturizer or make up in the morning, or every time you get in the car. The secret is to repeat it often, so that you experience a regular moment of reflection and gratitude for being alive.

p. 173 supplication - mindfully hold someone or something in the presence of the divine...it's a chance to hold people we love in our compassionate awareness.
p. 174 Jack Kornfield's Buddhist metta (loving-kindness) meditation practice where we repeat three intentions over and over again. We start with ourselves, then turn to someone we love, then to a stranger, and then to someone with whom we are struggling? 

Name: 
    May you safe and free from suffering
    May you be happy and healthy as possible
    May you have ease of being
p. 175 Supplication can look like intentional well-wishing, but it can also simply be the process by which we lift up the things in life we need help with. We call into our conscious mind the fears we might have, for example. Sometimes I create a list in my journal, trying to fill the whole page to ensure I am digging deep enough to clear out all the gunk in my mind. ....Writing it down or saying it out loud seems to take the sting out of things that are haunting me. This is the power of supplicatory prayer. It creates a place for fear and simultaneously puts fear in its place. It allows us to say what scares us without allowing it to overwhelm us. ...I speak the fears aloud in the shower, the fears mingling with the steam and just floating around the bathroom.
p. 176 Zen Buddhist teacher and writer Cheri Huber takes this practice on step further. She explains that you can use your phone to record yourself speaking aloud all your fears, pains, and angers-describing all the frustrations you feel in great detail. Then, after taking a short break, listen to the recording as if hearing someone else's problems, and bring to them the kind of compassion and love that you would to a friend or a stranger. After listening through loving ears, record a loving message back to yourself with some words of wisdom and care. Then after another break, listen to that second message.

Blessings
This is actually part of the supplication prayer section but it was so profound I need to stand alone for when I review. He says:
p. 178 O'Donohue (John O'Donohue To Bless the Space Between Us) describes blessings as "a circle of light drawn around a person to protect, heal, and strengthen." In this, he drew on ancient Celtic spiritual practice. The Celts drew a caim - a circle - around themselves in times of danger. Whether or not they believed in magical powers, it reminded them that they were always surrounded by the divine, that the mystery of the holy encircles us and entwines through us wherever we are. Blessings exist to remind us of that fact. If we're gone of our tune, a blessing or prayer of supplication bring us back into harmony. That's why, for O'Donohue, a blessing has real power. We must offer it with conviction because "the beauty of blessing is its belief that it can affect what unfolds."

A Rule of Life p. 187

He also devoted a whole section to the importance of tracking our intentions...which is totally my jam! He even refers to Gretchen Rubin's tracking sheets :) 

Two books he suggests on this. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find the at my library nor on Amazon!
Note To Self: Creating Your Guide to a More Spiritual Life (Charles LaFond)
Living Intentionally: A Workbook for Creating a Personal Rule of Life (Brother David Vryhof)

p. 193 The Dali Lama famously explains that although he usually meditates for an hour a day, on a particularly busy day he makes sure to meditate for two.

Goodreads says:

Ter Kuile, cohost of the podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text, demonstrates in his thoughtful debut how the nonreligious can "liberate the gifts of tradition" to foster greater spiritual connection in their lives. He argues that, while formal religious affiliation may be waning, spiritual practices remain relevant because they can cultivate bonds to the self, others, the natural world, and the transcendent. Ter Kuile explains the significance of a variety of religious practices, including pilgrimage, prayer, and meditation, and proposes ways to capture their significance through everyday activities ("anything can become a spiritual practice--gardening, painting, singing, snuggling, sitting") by focusing on intention, attention, and repetition. This approach leads to inventive explorations of social trends; for instance, the famously cultish appeal of the Crossfit fitness program is explained in terms of vulnerability and community. In ter Kuile's understanding, religious traditions are "inherently creative" and therefore good starting points for considering personalized, meaningful spiritual practices.

Stillness Is The Key (Ryan Holiday)

 

Books like this are changing my life. Love it! I've been trying to meditate daily since March and I believe it is making a difference in how I handle the back to school stress of school during a pandemic. 

Quotes and notes:

Page xiv

To Seneca and his fellow adherents of stoic philosophy, if a person could develop peace within themselves - if they could achieve apatheia, as they called it-then the whole world could be at war, and they could still think well, work well, and be well. "You may be sure that you are at peace with yourself, "Seneca wrote, "when no noise reaches you, when no word shakes you out of yourself, whether it be flattery or a threat, or merely an empty sound buzzing about you with unmeaning sin." In this state, nothing could touch them (not even a deranged emperor), no emotion could disturb them, no threat could interrupt them, and every beat of the present moment would be theirs for living.

A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention - Herbert Simon

p. 31 Napolean was content with being behind on his mail, even if it upset some people or if he missed  out on some gossip, because it meant that trivial problems had to resolve themselves without him. We need to cultivate a similar attitude - give things a little space, don't consume news in real time, be a season or two behind on the latest trend or cultural phenomenon, don't let your inbox lord over your life.

p. 32 In her diary in 1942, Dorothy Day, the Catholic nun and social activist, admonished herself...."Turn off your radio," she wrote, "put away your daily paper. Read one review of events and spend time reading." Books, spending time reading books - that's what she meant. Books full of wisdom.

(Stillness is the Key, Ryan Holiday, p. 32)

April 2025: There are so many sections of this book that I love. The "Take a Walk" chapter really struck me this time. I need to get walking back into my daily life.

Take a Walk (p. 192) A cantankerous Danish philosopher, Soren Kirkegaard, was particularly eloquent in his writing about walking, but he was by no means alone in his dedication to the practice - nor alone in reaping the benefits. Nietzsche said that the ideas in Thus Spoke Zarathustra came to him on a long walk. Nikola Tesla discovered the rotating magnetic field, one of the most important scientific discoveries of all time on a walk through a city ark in Budapest in 1882. When he lived in Paris, Ermest Hemingway would take long walks along the quais whenever he was stuck in his writing and needed to clarify his thinking. Charles Darwin's daily scheduled included several walks, as did those of Steve Jobs and the groundbreaking psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, the latter of whom wrote that "I did the best thinking of my life on leisurely walks with Amos. It was the physical activity in the body, Kahneman said, that got his brain going.

p. 196 Consider who may have walked in this very spot before you. Consider the person who paved the asphalt you are standing on. What was going on with them? Where are they now? What did they believe/ what problems did they have?

When you feel the tug of your responsibilities or the desire to check in with the outside world, push yourself a bit further. If you're on a path you have trod before, take a sudden turn down a street or up a hill where you haven't been before. Feel the unfamiliarity and the newness of these surroundings, drink in what you have not yet tasted.

Get lost. Be unreachable. Go slowly.

It's an affordable luxury available to us all. Even the poorest pauper can go for a nice walk - in a national park or an empty parking lot. Goodreads says: In The Obstacle Is the Way and Ego Is the Enemy, bestselling author Ryan Holiday made ancient wisdom wildly popular with a new generation of leaders in sports, politics, and technology. In his new book, Stillness Is the Key, Holiday draws on timeless Stoic and Buddhist philosophy to show why slowing down is the secret weapon for those charging ahead.

All great leaders, thinkers, artists, athletes, and visionaries share one indelible quality. It enables them to conquer their tempers. To avoid distraction and discover great insights. To achieve happiness and do the right thing. Ryan Holiday calls it stillness--to be steady while the world spins around you.

In this book, he outlines a path for achieving this ancient, but urgently necessary way of living. Drawing on a wide range of history's greatest thinkers, from Confucius to Seneca, Marcus Aurelius to Thich Nhat Hanh, John Stuart Mill to Nietzsche, he argues that stillness is not mere inactivity, but the doorway to self-mastery, discipline, and focus.

Holiday also examines figures who exemplified the power of stillness: baseball player Sadaharu Oh, whose study of Zen made him the greatest home run hitter of all time; Winston Churchill, who in balancing his busy public life with time spent laying bricks and painting at his Chartwell estate managed to save the world from annihilation in the process; Fred Rogers, who taught generations of children to see what was invisible to the eye; Anne Frank, whose journaling and love of nature guided her through unimaginable adversity.

More than ever, people are overwhelmed. They face obstacles and egos and competition. Stillness Is the Key offers a simple but inspiring antidote to the stress of 24/7 news and social media. The stillness that we all seek is the path to meaning, contentment, and excellence in a world that needs more of it than ever. 

Power From On High (Caldwell)

The title of this book was a draw for me. The more I read the more 'meh' I felt about it. I don't feel obligated to finish books I don't like, and I did end up finishing it, so that says something. However, it wasn't any different than anything I have heard at a long and dull stake conference or sacrament meeting where people rehash a talk that has already been given by someone else.

Goodreads says:

When the Lord's church was organized in this dispensation, the Savior . . . gave Joseph Smith power from on high that he might fulfill the Lord's purposes and accomplish His marvelous work. Just as Joseph Smith needed power from heavenly sources, so also are we dependent upon that same power in order to fulfill the Lord's expectations of us, be accepted of Him, and be welcomed back into His presence. In the pages of this inspiring text, Elder C. Max Caldwell, emeritus member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, explains that we don't have the power to personally overcome and transcend our mortal limitations. However, the redeeming power of the Savior not only saves us from permanent physical disabilities through the resurrection, but also repairs internal spiritual damages incurred when we fail to follow the narrow path leading home. Elder Caldwell then points us toward principles and practices that will connect us to the Lord's power plant—simple guidelines that will give us the power to overcome temptation and keep our lives focused on the Savior and the saving principles of His gospel. Filled with scriptural affirmations, powerful examples, meaningful quotes from General Authorities, and the author's tender and insightful personal experiences, this is truly a book to be savored, treasured, and referenced often.

The Circle Maker (Mark Batterson)

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great reminder of the power of prayer. The author's premise is that God has many blessings waiting to shower down on you. They are there for the asking, if only we will ask. Not only that, He can bless us with far more than we can likely imagine. The author relates the story of the Israelites and how they tired of manna and wanted meat (Numbers 11). Quail fell from heaven....more than they could have ever imagined!

The circle aspect of it is interesting. The idea is that we need to circle things we are praying for or about, like Israelites did when the caused the walls of Jericho to fall down. (Joshua 6) He also encourages the reader to circle miracles in the Bible. It is all built on the legend of Honi, a man who prayed for rain after several years of drought. He drew a circle and called down the rain. I thought it was interesting that he would start the book with a legend, rather than a biblical story, but it worked.

All in all a good read. It is easy to read and has a lot of stories, both personal and biblical.