the "hub of life" and prayer in henri nouwen

Source: Henri J. M. Nouwen (2003). The only necessary thing: Living a prayerful life. Quezon City, Philippines: Claretian Publications, pp. 147-148 (caps mine for emphasis).

Note: Henri Josef Machiel Nouwen (1932-1996), a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian with interest in psychology, pastoral ministry, spirituality, social justice and community (wikipedia).

"Moving to the Hub of Life"

"In my home country the Netherlands, you still see many large wagon wheels...as decorations....I have always been fascinated by these wagon wheels....These wheels help me to understand the importance of a LIFE LIVED FROM THE CENTER. When I move from the rim, I can reach one spoke after the other, but when I stay at the hub, I am IN TOUCH WITH ALL the spokes at once.

"To PRAY is to move to the center of all life and all love. The closer  I come to the hub of life, the closer I come to all that receives its STRENGTH and ENERGY from there. My tendency is to get so DISTRACTED by the diversity of the many spokes of life, that I am BUSY but not truly LIFE-GIVING, all over the place but not FOCUSED. By directing my attention to the HEART OF LIFE, I am CONNECTED with its rich variety while remaining CENTERED. 

What does the hub represent?I think of it as my own HEART, the heart of God, and the heart of the world. When I pray, I enter into the depth of my own heart and find there the [147/148] heart of God, who speaks to me of love. And I recognize, right there, the place where all of my sisters and brothers are in COMMUNION with one another. 

The great paradox of the spiritual life is, indeed, that the most PERSONAL is most UNIVERSAL, that the most intimate is the most communal, and that the most contemplative is most active.

"The wagon wheel shows that the hub is the CENTER OF ALL ENERGY and MOVEMENT, even when it often seems not to be moving at all. In God all action and all rest are one. So too prayer! 

-- Here and Now

My Comment:

The wooden wheel is of personal spiritual significance to me since it was a vision given to me by my assistant small group leader at the Living Waters healing ministry 25-week program of 2015 May to October. It did not make much sense to me at that time, except to connect my physical and psychological illnesses to FEAR being the CENTER (the negative yin).

Later only, but during that period, I bumped into this quote from Henri Nouwen whom I was already reading at that time, and this time it gave me the positive (yang) meaning, which is more the THEOLOGICAL answer to the PHILOSOPHICAL or human SCIENCES part above (yin).