OK, I confess. While I have never been officially tested, my friends would concur, I am prone to Attention Deficit Disorder. There. I said it. Surprise! But really, honestly, hasn't that prognosis become about as normal as a setting on our dishwasher? "Normal", "quick", "delicate", "extra dry", "slightly distracted", "somewhat unpredictable"...."Squirrel!" (to steal a quote from the movie Up) Maybe the diagnosis is true. Maybe it's not. The real question I am asking is this: How can I live more intentional in an increasingly distracted world? And I don't think one needs to be A.D.D. or A.D.H.D. to wonder the same thing. I think somewhere deep down we are all asking something like that. How do we live...better?
It’s weird really, A.D.H.D has become quite a phenomenon - The inability to hold focus, constant activity, moving from one thing to the next, lack of impulse control, anger management issues - It sounds like A.D.H.D. has made its way into our world more than we realize. Is this life - laden with distractions, 'pleasure' seeking, and busyness - really working?
One look at the world around us - including the world within the walls of the church - and it's clear our A.D.H.D. approach is not working. If it was, the use of anti-depressants would not be on the rise as it is. Crime would not be the back-drop of most evening news reports, and divorce would be less not more frequent. Lawsuits would be the exception not the norm. Obesity would not be an epidemic. Credit cards would not be maxed out from trips to the mall, Disneyland, or weekly "pedis". Parents wouldn't be lost in a sea of sporting events that consume their every waking hour. Our 4 year olds Birthday party would not have to be "pintrest"...then Facebooked...then instagramed. (I'm going to share a secret with you...4 year olds don't care if their favors were made from recycled jars decoupaged in vintage fabric and filled with homemade organic treats....they just don't.) Nope our A.D.H.D. approach has not served us well. Distractions are rarely the answer...they only pretend to soothe a bleeding (or bored)soul...a soul that's screaming for something more...for something better.
So...WWJD (what would Jesus do)? Because I really do want to DWJWD (Do what Jesus would do)... Of all people, HE seemed to focused on the things that matter. He was busy but not distracted. I don't think He was very bored either because He was going about His Father's work. Yet, when life came at Him at break-neck speed He was at the ready... present and conversational. For instance, when the bleeding woman caught the edge of His garment He paused. If ever there was a moment for a man to "vacate the premises" and find something else to do, that was it! But Jesus stayed. He talked with the woman (shameful as it was at the time) and received her story. He didn't have to, according to scripture she was healed the moment she touched His robe. By most "A.D.H.D-world" standards, His job was done and the next "thing" was waiting...Snap to it! But by WWJD standards, maybe the job wasn't finished. Maybe the biggest miracle was the conversation between the Divine King of kings and a forgotten woman who longed for healing ...for dignity ...for friendship. So much would have missed had Jesus "squirreled" off to the next thing instead of pausing his steps for a moment to take a closer look.
When I am distracted I tend to neglect relationships and sadly that means people too. I move from one bright shiny object to the next. I see it glisten in the distance and something in me is driven to find its pleasure; pleasure that wears off soon after, so I move on to the next distraction. On and on it goes, satisfying for a moment, maybe even a season, but in the end leaving me more empty than when I started. That's what distractions do. They give the illusion of satisfaction while secretly denying the soul.
What would happen if we stopped our sprint to the next "drug of choice" and paused to touch the hem of His garment - if even only for a moment? Would we be changed? Would our soul stop its bleeding? Would we be surprised by the conversation we encounter with Christ? Would a piece of regenerated life awaken within us?...maybe life is found in the pause instead of the sprint.
WWJD?....He would pause. He would be indifferent to the things that seduce a glance to steal our gaze. He, instead, would gaze deeply into the heart of God through the waking of a sunrise, or the stillness of a prayer, He would delight in the joy of a child or the playfulness of a puppy. He would notice the tug on His robe and, like He did with that woman, be at the ready...present and conversational; capturing the divine eternal moments that simply show up without trend or demand. He would welcome them with glad submission and... join in.
I want to do the same. I want to DWJWD and find more than what this A.D.H.D world can ever offer.
Next post: Sunday, June 13 - "Alternative Realities"
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