The Spiritual Darkness of Distraction

 

"Anything or nothing is sufficient

to attract his attention."

~ Screwtape, the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

I watched about 15 minutes of Olympic curling this morning and left more confused than ever as to how that "sport" is actually played. I don't get it.  

Did you know the average Olympian has trained 2-4 hours a day in their sport, many from an average age of about 11?  The dedication and focus they show is to be applauded, sometimes only to end in disappointment and defeat.  Once in 6th grade I ran a mile and thought my chest was literally going to explode.  I took that as a sign to never repeat that task, ever.  

The only thing since then I've done for 2 hours a day is eat.  But I guess I can't forget the hours I daily spent disciplining 8th graders.  Where's my gold medal?

Here's some fun facts about the Olympics:

1- They took place originally over 6 months

2- Women couldn't always compete (shocking)

3- They were banned for about 1000 years

4- Arts, musicians, and architects used to compete 

5- The rings on the symbol represent the 5 inhabited continents, and the colors are the most common colors found on countries' flags around the world.

Olympians have definitely run their particular race with focus; certainly to be admired.  Are they really the same breed of human we are?   What do we really want to be intentional about? 

I've been reading lately about slowing down and being more purposeful.  Part of that has been a book called "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry" by John Mark Comer.  On the subject of stopping the madness on the rat race road, he suggested we reintroduce the Sabbath mentality back into our lives of just stopping the everyday hamster wheel and reconnecting with God.  He made excellent points on just zeroing in on how Jesus lived.  After all, we are Christ-followers.

It's a great season to reflect on how we live day-to-day, as Lent has prompted many to do.  But just because we may have missed the deadline, any day is actually a good day to ask ourselves how we may follow Christ more closely.

It's easy - just eliminate all our distractions.  Riiight.

"Teach me Your way, Lord, that I may rely on Your faithfulness; 

give me an undivided heart, that I may fear Your name."  Ps 86:11

Has there ever been an age where there has been more distractions and white noise to battle hourly?  I imagine David, out in the field, found it easier to concentrate on God, because the sheep put out very little white noise (as long as a lion wasn't nearby).  

Noah probably had a lot of naysayers as he was building the arc, and he couldn't just put in his earbuds, but he got it done.  

The absence of electricity limited quite a bit for centuries as darkness loomed, so sitting by a fire and conversing or reading Scripture by candlelight were the evening's activities.  No Netflix to fight over.

When is the last time we sat quietly, or waited in a line or at a light, without picking up our phone?  I know - I don't remember either.  Or just had the TV or radio on in the background so there wasn't silence?

Remember being guided to pray at stoplights?  That concept has been abandoned for the most part.  Somehow the idea that we could be enlightened about something told to us by our phone became the filler of our minutes. 

So how can we battle the impulse of distraction?  Well, it's not an earthly battle - it's definitely spiritual.  And it's not new, it's been around since the garden.

It's not meant to be oversimplified or misconstrued as easy to do.  It's probably going to be one of the harder things we make a choice to do each and every day.  Until it's not hard because it's a way of life.  

"I will meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways."Ps 119:15

Most of us (if we're not Gen Zs or Alphas) weren't born with phones in our hand or a thousand choices on our TV.   We developed that habit too. 

As it has been said, "if the devil can't destroy you he'll distract you".   I know it seems like the Scholastic bookfair week at school but there are some excellent Scripture based books out there to help us be more focused & less distracted (after the Bible).  C.S. Lewis captured the essence of human nature in his book "The Screwtape Letters", where Screwtape, a senior high-ranking demon advises his nephew Wormwood to tempt and corrupt his human patient by keeping them 'divulged in mindless diversions and entertainment'.  Hmmm, sounds familiar. 

Like Olympians, let's run our race with intent and conviction, towards God.

✙ Dear Lord, You know us all too well, and love us anyway.  We humbly ask forgiveness for the tendency to rebel and be distracted with things we have put in a place of honor above You.  Help us with our weaknesses and replace our divided hearts of stone with hearts of flesh from You.  Amen.