Distractions

Into the Olympic news comes the scandal of athletes' outfits made in China. No opinion will be expressed here on that fact. As the one who used to have to craft press releases and sometimes do damage control, I applauded the response from the Olympic committee saying pretty much we're focused on training athletes and winning medals right now. I hope the athletes can be similarly focused and not distracted by sensationalist "news" reporters. The conductor of a musical organization I play in refers to the intrusion of "monkey brain." I'm thinking about my next notes and all of a sudden find myself wondering which lane on the freeway will be closed when I drive home after rehearsal. Oops - missed that note! Practicing intentional mental focus consistently improves our ability to focus, but the world doesn't support that sort of thing - just the opposite. I live my life as a mother, grandmother, sister, employee, spouse, citizen, church member, Stephen minister..... Wow! How do I make choices of time and attention. How do I know who I am?

That's when the focus brought by one of the phrases I mentioned last week really helps me. "Leave your house like a shepherd." If I live my life as a Steward, living out all of these relationships as a shepherd, then all of these roles are the ways in which I carry out my stewardship. My relationship with God is primary. All these roles are my opportunity to strengthen that relationship, come to a deeper understanding of it, and by living as God's representative in the world, be a means through which others can also develop and deepen that relationship. For me, that puts a whole new spin on every role I play and helps me to make necessary decisions about priorities.

We ask our Olympic athletes to be clothes models, hucksters for products, ambassadors for our country, promoters for the Olympic committee, and myriad other things. But just before the starting shot, in that moment, they know are competitors and all of their focus will be on one thing. I want to go into my day like a shepherd, but also like an Olympic athlete who has trained and practiced, ready for the race.