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| Climbing the large dune at Warren Dunes State Park |
Distraction.
That, according to Richard Foster, is the primary spiritual
problem in our day. "The Internet culture is only a surface issue. Our
problem is something far more fundamental. This deeper, more basic issue can be
summed up in one word: distraction."[1]
The inability to focus.
Difficulty in attending to just one thing.
The tweeting soul. The linking brain.
It’s nothing new.[2]
This has always been with us. "People were distracted long before it [the
Internet] came along. Blaise Pascal observed, "The sole cause of man's
unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room."”[3]
Minds are prone to wander. Today they seem to divert more
than ever because we live our culture sells mental and spiritual rabbit trails.
Ours is an atmosphere of distraction, a world economy sustained by
distractedness. To un-attend is the norm.
This is changing the nature of interpersonal relationships,
in some ways for the worse. It affects the God-relationship, and if and how
people pray. Single-mindedness, the ability to attend to one thing over a
sustained period of time, is needed to succeed at anything, including praying.
If someone wanted to overcome this, how could it be done? Foster writes: "The
first counsel I would give regarding a wandering mind is for us to be easy on
ourselves. We did not develop a noisy heart overnight, and it will take time
and patience for us to learn a single-hearted concentration."[4]
Don’t be impatient with yourself here. That is precisely the
problem: impatience.
Learn
about your inner chaos. Identify it. When your mind wanders, note where it wanders
to. It always wanders to something like a burden. Identify the burden and give
it over to God. 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast your burdens on him, for he cares
for you."
Discern if a particular distraction is from God. "If
one particular matter seems to be repeatedly intruding into our meditation, we
may want to ask of the Lord if the intrusion has something to teach us. That
is, we befriend the intruder by making it the object of our meditation."[5]
Find ways "to crucify the spirit of distraction."[6] Fast
for periods of time from electronic media (how badly do you want this?). Choose
to turn off the cell phone and see if you can survive without it (A new kind of
reality survival show?).
Remember that people don't need you as much as you think
they do. Constant contextedness with people increases inner chaos. Foster
writes: "I would suggest a fast from all our Internet gadgetry for one
hour a day, one day a week, one week a year. See if that helps to calm the
internal distraction."[7]
Find a place to meet with God. Post a sign saying,
“Distraction-Free Zone.” In that quiet place, pray. Dialogue with God. Listen,
and speak. Learn the Relationship. Get away from the to-do list and be with
God. Live life with your doing flowing from your being with
God.
Ahhh... to calm the inner distraction... To learn
simply being with Almighty God... To receive and respond to God's
earth-shattering presence... To be in love with your Maker...
…that I might come to the place where other voices are
silenced and my own voice is muted and I hear his voice and nothing else.
[2]
See, e.g., Maggie Jackson and Bill McKibben, Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age. New
York: Prometheus, 2008.
[3]
Foster, op. cit., Kindle Locations 710-711
[4]
Ib., Kindle Locations 716-717
[5]
Ib., Kindle Locations 725-726
[6]
Ib., Kindle Location 727
[7]
Ib., Kindle Locations 728-729
