August 11, 2024
This happens to me sometimes: I go to Facebook to check something. Then, oh, look at this post! I see a picture of Cindy’s cat. Ben posted a photo of Chewbacca from Star Wars, hairy from head to toe, playing the saxophone at Music Fest! Next post: there’s a popcorn fundraiser. Cathy, my friend in Iowa, posted a quote: “People in therapy are often in therapy to deal with the people in their lives who won’t go to therapy!” 15 minutes later, I wonder, what is it I went to Facebook for!?
Today we’re talking about distraction! Do you find you get distracted? There’s a lot of that today. Scientists have measured our attention over the past 20 years. In 2004, the average person had an attention span of two and half minutes. Today, the average attention span is 47 seconds.
We’re more distracted than ever! Does it matter? Yes, when we’re distracted it takes longer to do a task. When we can’t focus, we experience more stress. When we’re distracted, we can find ourselves paying less attention to the important people in our lives. And when we can’t focus, it’s hard to spend time with God; we have less joy and peace.
We might be more distracted today than before, but it’s always taken effort to focus on what’s most important. In our gospel story today, Mark chapter 1, Jesus is just starting his ministry. He spends 40 days in the desert, Satan tempts him not to follow God. Jesus stays focused on what’s most important! He passes the test. Then Jesus begins to go out. He teaches, calls Simon, Andrew, James and John to be his disciples. Then he casts out demons and heals people. At this point, Jesus is famous! Verse 33 says “the whole town gathered at his door, bringing the sick for Jesus to heal.”
There’s a lot going on. As Jesus life is getting busier, he decides to get away from it all! Vs. 35 says, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, or a lonely place, where he prayed.” After a hectic day of helping others, Jesus, needs some time to be alone with God and pray!
Verses 36 and 37 say, “Simon and his companions went to look for Jesus, and when they found him, they exclaimed: ‘Everyone is looking for you!’”
Simon Peter is so excited that Jesus has become famous! It’s like he’s saying, Jesus, what in the world are you doing in a lonely place, praying? You’re famous! Go take your victory lap and soak up all the glory!
But for Jesus, a time of prayer, a time away from the distractions of the world, a time focused on God was what he knew he needed. And instead of following Simon’s advice to go back to the spotlight and heal more people, Jesus says, we’re moving on. He doesn’t stay where he’s famous. He goes to spread the good news of God’s love to people who have not heard it. Jesus stays centered on what’s most important. He’s not distracted, he’s living out what he was made for. His time spent with God feeds his spirit. Jesus shows us, if you make time for what you value, distraction won’t break you.
Johann Hari is a writer. He took his godson, a teenager, on a trip to Graceland. Before they left, he told him, “I’ll take you, but you have to promise to stay off your phone.” Do you think he stayed off his phone? No! He was on his phone most of the time. His godson said, I’m not calling anybody. So, I’m not on my phone. You can’t expect me to go without texting and games!!
Johann was concerned about his godson, but he was having trouble paying attention himself. Johann used to love to read books. He noticed recently he would have to read the same paragraph over and over: he wasn’t taking it in. He had trouble focusing.
In his book, Stolen Focus, he tells how he decided to do something about his distraction. He went on a three-month break from technology. He would have no internet and no cell phone. He went to an isolated town on the ocean in Massachusetts. Before he left, he wanted to get a phone without any internet at all. He had trouble finding one. In the stores, they didn’t understand why he would want a phone without the internet, and they didn’t have such a thing. He ended up going online and getting a Jitterbug. He used the phone only for emergencies. He didn’t have cable or a TV.
For three months, Johan talked to strangers, made new friends, bought more books to read, and read newspapers. It was a shock to get used to a slower life. He did get used to it. He took long walks every day. And he was able to read books again! He could pay attention. He would daydream and think more deeply. But when the three months were up, he went back to work and his old life. He wanted to keep his focus. So he did some things to keep his ability to pay attention. So, he took measures to keep his mind focused: he would turn off the internet and put his phone in a safe when he needed to focus on work. He would spend six months off social media, then six months on. He continued to take long walks and let his mind wander. He makes sure he gets 8 hours of sleep. He makes sure to help his young relatives pay attention and experience life: he spends time with them with no screen. And he is kind to himself, not feeling shame or blame because he has to take what some people think are drastic measures to limit his screen time. It’s just the world we live in; it’s harder for anybody to pay attention. But if you make time for what you value, distraction won’t break you.
Even Jesus needed to find time alone with God. He needed to take care of himself and give his brain a break. By the time Simon found Jesus in that lonely place, he had decompressed and left ready to go, clear on his purpose and where to go next.
That’s the power of a lonely place! When I go on a walk, things pop in my head that I need to remember, or I want to do. The solution to a problem will come to me. My brain works better when I get away. There’s also the power of spending time with God. When I have a quiet time with God, my mood lifts. I feel like God is carrying my burden. I leave less stressed. When you make time for what you value, distraction won’t break you.
I struggle with distractions. I’m guilty of telling friends and family, “We should get together,” but it doesn’t happen. Then when someone you love passes away, you think, “I wish I would have spent more time with them.” I wish I weren’t distracted by other things. Today is a day you can make time for people you value.
I’m guilty of skipping time with God. But when I make time for people who mean the most to me, and make time for God, life is easier. I bounce back from adversity. I’m not distracted by what does not matter.
Did you ever look back at your life and think, “I don’t know why I worried so much. Everything works out.” Instead of missing out on the peace of God, we can choose each day to meet our creator, the one who loves us completely. We can spend time with him, feel relief, peace, joy, and calm. We can worry less.
My challenge for you this week is to think when you will spend time with God each day. When will you fit it in your routine? When I get up in the morning, I use the bathroom, weigh myself, then the next thing I do is sit down, read Scripture and pray. That’s where it fits in my schedule, and part of my routine.
Our attentions span is something we don’t think about. It’s not like money and time, which we all wish we had more of. But attention helps us make plans and follow through. It helps us turn to people when they are talking to us and really listen. It helps us take a break and experience God’s love in a lonely place. The good news is we can grow our attention span! When you make time for what you value, distraction won’t break you. Amen.
Maureen Duffy-Guy's blog 