Out of Focus?

"Mindfulness" is getting a lot of press today. Basically it means "paying attention to what you're paying attention to." The idea, they say, is that you can be more productive, positive, and nearly every other good thing you can imagine, by being mindful. But of course, the real question is not just whether we're paying enough attention but what
we're being mindful about. Once again, Jesus gives us some instruction. In Luke 10:38-42, he's telling us what to pay attention to. Let's look.

In this story, Jesus has come into a village and is welcomed by Martha. She and her sister Mary (they are the sisters of Lazarus, we find out in John 11), He pulls up the floor and sits down, with Mary sitting in front of him listening to him teach, and Martha running back and forth preparing the perfect meal for the great teacher from Galilee, and maybe tidying her house as she goes. As people tend to do, Martha develops a resentment from her expectation that her sister should be doing half the work. She asks Jesus to fix it her way: “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” Jesus ignores her request and re-focuses her by telling her “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” Not only is he refusing to tell Mary (who is probably still sitting right there in front of him!) to go help, he's teaching Martha she should have her focus on that one eternal thing -- Jesus himself -- not on making the perfect cupcakes or mopping the floor until it shines.

I had some friends years ago who, after a church potluck, could be so engrossed in a conversation that when we were re-setting the room, we had to move them sideways to finish cleaning. Some I knew got frustrated with them. I got frustrated too, because I was missing out on their deep conversation, maybe an eternal moment, while I was performing a service that would need performing again soon. I wanted to be doing both at once, and should have stopped one of them (guess which?).

There will always a need to prepare meals, and clean, and earn a living and all that other stuff, and those can take up a large share of our waking hours. But having our focus on them, like calculating how to fit in more of those temporary life chores, or getting resentful over who isn't doing their part, shouldn't consume our thoughts. Being "mindful," or staying in focus, could be defined, for us, as keeping our eyes on Jesus -- on the eternal perspective, and not the physical one. The Holy Spirit will help us re-focus so that we see the eternal opportunities in front of us: like seeing a friend or neighbor who needs a hand with a chore, or an understanding shoulder to cry on, rather than just our own interests and accomplishments, as Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:4, "Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.".

Right now, I'm extra busy with a summer class, and will be for the next year or more as I finish my Master's degree. As important as that study is, I have to keep pulling away from the books to have time for people, because relationships are forever. Our Savior Jesus has given us a new life, a Kingdom life, with him, and we're told in Hebrews 12:2 to "keep our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith." The Holy Spirit constantly brings our focus back to living in that already-existing kingdom with our Savior. That's another form of mindfulness.

Any other focus is just 'out of focus.'  Right?