Dear one,
“Focus” … increasingly this word has become important to me. Not infrequently I urge: “Stay focused, Stan, stay focused.” My need to remain focused—and need it is—might arise from my age: soon I’ll be seventy; it might arise from the many opportunities that are mine: our wealth as Americans is the plethora of choices daily before us; and/or it might emerge simply because I am an internet person: even as I began to write to you, several were the beeping dings alerting me to yet another message someone thought timely. (And the irony is not lost upon me: in not many hours, you’ll receive a ding, beckoning you to read my latest thought. Hmm …)
Whatever its source, my need to be focused remains—and this need has been evident since my return from Romania. Initially upon returning home, I knew that I’d need some rest, and I knew that I would need to reconnect with various individuals—but I also knew that these needs would not encourage me to focus. As a consequence, I have struggled to recapture a rhythm and routine, needed for me to focus. Of course, this is nothing other than
(Oops, there’s another ding … I wonder who sent … perhaps I should … Argh! Remain focused, Stan! You’re writing a blog, remember?)
nothing other than priorities verses the tyranny of the urgent. In this regard, I am reminded of Jesus’ words:
“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you” (Luke 11:9);
words set within a context of perseverance, even shameless persistence. Moreover, these words of encouragement to His first disciples came from One, who knew His calling; or as Luke previously noted: Jesus “set His face to journey to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). He knew that Jerusalem meant crucifixion, but He did not deviate from this path; as a result, not many hours before His arrest, He affirmed (an affirmation I always find stunning):
“[I have completed] the work which you have given to me to do” (John 17:4).
I wonder: What is the “work” to which you have been called and for which you have been gifted? Children? Engineering? Art? Teaching? Health care? Farming? Listening?
For me, I know that I need to focus upon writing, so that a few pastors might be encouraged through my dim insights and feeble words—but I know that He can reap much from very little.
Focusing,
Stan