Protection from (spiritual) distraction
Hard to believe but there is an official US Government website for distracted driving: www.distraction.gov.
Or maybe it’s not so hard to believe because of the cost of distraction. In 2010, 3092 people were killed and 416,000 injured in crashes involving a distracted driver. Drivers who use hand-held devices are 4 times more likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. Text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted. Sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent — at 55 mph — of driving the length of an entire football field, blind.
You can listen to this lesson. Click here.
Recently, ABC News ran a story about distracted walking. Whether talking on the cell phone, playing an electronic game, or texting someone, electronic gadgets have provided enough distraction for 85 injuries already this year in Fort Lee, NJ, a town of only 35,000 people. Not a high percentage of the population were injured by walking distracted, but enough to make me ponder the phenomenon of distraction.
Distraction – the state of being (1) drawn away or diverted; (2) disturbed or greatly troubled in mind; (3) pleasantly diverted, amused. Perhaps the most common meaning of distraction is when your mind and thoughts or other than where they need to be to accomplish your task(s) at hand.
Which brings me to the state of distraction from our God-mind. It may be an overstatement to say that Jesus never experienced such distraction, that his mind was in touch with his Christ Spirit 24/7. But it’s surely true that he was not distracted from God, Presence, Spirit as much as I am or as much as you are. I’m ready to say we mostly come to church on Sunday to recharge that awareness, that conscious focus, to get clear of our distractions that the week has caused. Or that we have caused during the week.
Certainly a major purpose of Sunday service is to create the opposite of distraction, to generate as much attraction to the sharp awareness of Presence as we can. Every Sunday we sing the beautiful lines, “Surely the Presence of the Lord is in this place…”. At the close of every service we speak the Prayer of Protection with this comforting line: “The Presence of God watches over me….” We want to know that Presence. We want to be conscious of that Presence. We pretty surely want to be constantly aware of that Presence, emphasis on “constantly.”
We certainly want our attention on the presents of Spirit and the Presence of Spirit as often — as close to 24/7 — as we can achieve. I speak for myself and I’ll bet you agree that nothing feels better than enjoying what we know comes from God (presents) and what we know is God (Presence). And there’s not really any difference.
The Presence of God is Joy.
A present from God is the joy of holding a child’s hand.
The Presence of God is Peace.
A present from God is the peace of reflecting on a full day’s work, over dinner.
The Presence of God is Grace.
A present from God is that we can share our well-being with those experiencing need.
The Presence of God is Faith.
A present from God is knowing the Truth of God’s Presence.
The Presence of God is Love.
A present from God is the creative love praying provides.
But we do get distracted. Think of all the things and ways and actions and situations that distract us from dedicated attraction to Presence and Its presents. What are some distractions?
- Human Tasks: the too many things we allow ourselves to “know” we have to do, we have to finish, we have to see to.
- Time: the sometimes fear that no matter how fast we work we will not have enough time.
- Responsibilities and obligations: these are a specific category of Human Tasks; the ones that are heavier, more demanding, more immediate.
But reflect on the third definition of distraction above: the state of being pleasantly diverted, amused. I choose to refer to this as attraction and have it mean our ability to see the presents of Presence in what would otherwise be distractions. Here are some such attractions:
Joy is the gift we can bring from our hearts (I like to think that’s where God puts it) to our minds and have it fully at work in those human tasks we get to do. Hey, we get to do them.
Laughter is the gift we can shake in the face of time. Why don’t we laugh at deadlines (and why not call them livelines because we can enjoy our living more once the time is up and the job is done)? I don’t mean we should ignore them. After all, I have to have a lesson ready by 10:30 on Sundays! But laughing at the prospect of “not enough” time erases the fear and seems to increase the time.
Contentment, Achievement, and Excitement are the gifts those responsibilities and obligations really produce. Sure, the responsibilities and obligations produce things that remove problems or satisfy needs. But the accomplishment beyond that is our personal Good Feeling from what we have been gifted to do! That Good Feeling may mean more than the problem solution or need satisfaction!
I encourage to create and construct your own personal tools to protect against distraction from awareness of Presence and Its presents. Here are some guideliness for you to try:
- Capture a time specifically to Be with God. You may meditate or pray or walk or wash dishes or exercise or…or…or. The only requirement is that you remember to keep God in the front of your mind for just a few minutes. Write yourself a note if necessary to remind you to do it every day for five days. Chances are after five days you’ll be eager to extend that time.
- Allow special people to trigger your Love of God. Whenever I drive the 25 miles south to visit Robin, my sister, I settle into a beautiful contemplation of God’s Presence in her and in me. You can pick the people who will cause you to get in touch with Presence frequently.
- Pray. Allow yourself to consciously relax about praying. Lots of folks feel they don’t know how to pray. Praying doesn’t have to be words. Praying doesn’t have to be thoughts. Praying doesn’t have to be spoken. Praying is breathing. Smiling is praying. Praying is blinking your eyes. Appreciating a sound is praying. The Presence in everything we do is the present everything we do (God) gives us. Pray often.
No matter how few of these things you do, each instance protects you from distraction from the Presence of God. And please, don’t text and drive!!!
Love and Blessings,
If you’d like to listen to the lesson, click here.
In: Christ Spirit, God, Happiness, Joy, Peacefulness, Prayer, Spirituality · Tagged with: Affirmations, Christ, Faith, Joy, Love, Prayer, Principles
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