The allure of an open road is a compelling force to many people. For me it represents so many things: freedom, exploration, discovery, adventure, future, hope, change ... you get the idea. As I stood in the middle of this road with the sun beginning to set behind me, a long, tall shadow was created just to the left of the yellow line. As I framed my image, I could feel the stirring of something else in my heart: A powerful and deep desire to be "centered" with my creator on this road called life. There will be times in our lives when the road is as straight as this appears, stretching far into the horizon. But there will also be more moments than we care to count when that road we walk twists and turns in almost violent roller-coaster fashion. It is almost impossible during those times to physically stay centered, but what of our spiritual centeredness? How do we stay centered when the challenges of our existence threaten to knock us off our feet? We pray. We pray in whatever place our challenge has knocked us - whether on our faces or on our knees. We pray to our merciful Father who blankets us with grace and forgiveness and never lets us walk alone. We pray and know that when our focus is on the Divine, the Creator, the Mystery, He Who Made Us, our compass remains true and no one or nothing can knock us off the course that God has laid out for us when we stay centered on Him. Let our soul compasses be true and centered on Him!