A haven for healing: A short story and some wisdom
Sandy Centeno outside on her porch where she calls a Healing Haven
For the first five years of her life, she was surrounded by her Mexican family. Images of the Virgin Mother and Jesus Christ populate her early childhood. An active child, she says that watching her grandmother pray the rosary was one of the only ways she would sit still.
“Her eyes were closed as she moved her hands along each bead,” she says. “The rosary was a must in our family, and this ritual invited me into a stillness that I remember vividly.”
Sandy Centeno, who identifies as Mexican-American, notices and celebrates the ways in which her colorful and rich cultural upbringing inform her ministry today. As a partner of Retreat House Spirituality Center and energy healer as well as spiritual director, she has a passion for ministering to Hispanic women. And as of late, God has been calling her to meet with men who are in their 40s, she says.
The Virgin at a Painted Church in Central Texas
Born to Mexican parents, she spent the first years of her childhood in California. Every summer, the family would travel to Mexico to visit relatives for two months. She describes this as the best of both worlds - a time for fun and games. She was immersed in a new culture with a chance to learn new things and connect with family and then got to go back home to California. It was beautiful, she says.
At 12, circumstances changed. She experienced culture shock when her family permanently moved to Mexico. Her parents enrolled her in Catholic schools, where she experienced heavy-handed discipline and learned within a rigid framework. And, although she was in Mexico, the schools there were actually full of white kids - she was the only Hispanic kid in many of the classes. Spanish speaking in the classroom was limited and English encouraged.
She was teased.
In a classroom of students who looked like her, she felt like an outsider. She was different in the United States, and she was different here, too.
Connecting past to present
When bringing these experiences to the present, Centeno reflects on the wisdom and compassion cultivated during her childhood. She allowed her past to transform her into a transmitter of loving-kindness.
Our hearts come alive with the wisdom she shares:
“My experience as an outsider helped me create opportunities to forgive. It also led me into my first calling as a Montessori teacher. My intention in the classroom was to create a cohesive, accepting and loving environment. It was difficult at first, the administration wanted me to focus solely on academics. I was not allowed to discuss God or use faith or spiritual language, so I decided to practice allowing God’s love to flow through me each day as the teacher. I wasn’t allowed to say the words Jesus or God so I decided to be the Jesus in the classroom for these children, to be the loving presence I so could have used during my childhood at school. My actions would represent God even though I couldn’t talk about God. I would wear my cross as a symbol of love.
When I meet with someone for an energy session or spiritual direction, I use the skills I developed in the classroom. I practice hospitality. I also think of stewardship. I think of being a good steward as not trying to control other people. It is accepting everyone! No matter what political affiliation or religion, or gender or sexual orientation, you accept everyone as they are. This allows me to be fully present for a session just as I practiced being fully present in the classroom for decades.”
Sandy as a child
“It is so much easier to come into my sessions as a good steward. I think of it as dropping my own luggage at the doorway so I can focus on accepting the directee where they are and just as they are.”
Are there hurts or uncomfortable memories from your past or childhood that need healing? How might they give you a more expansive loving view toward others? What kind of compassion do these parts of your past need?
This short story was written by Emily Turner Watson. She is a trained spiritual director and writer. Connect with her. She would love to hear from you.
Sandy Centeno is an energy healer, seminary student and spiritual director. Contact her here.