Only One Thing | My Attention Matters
I often marvel at the ability of God to know and love the sheer number of people on earth. How can He love everyone when I can barely do it with the few in my life? He commanded Adam and Noah to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth — with the intention of loving and knowing individuals. Thinking about my own singular life story, I consider how complex it is — the many interpersonal relationships I have, my nuanced history and defining moments, all the prayers I have prayed, and my personality and disposition — it staggers my imagination to multiply his love, acceptance and care to the billions on this planet. How does he do it? Of course, a turtle could look at a cheetah and ask how he could run so quickly, or a fish could look at an eagle and wonder how he survives out of the water. As I consider God, I recognize I am human and I have the constraint of only being able to focus on one task, one person, one conversation at any time. Just one!
What if my ability to focus my attention on one thing is by design? What if God purposely limited my ability to multitask — at least while I was in this body? While I’m sitting here typing, my body is processing millions of transactions completely out of sight. The autonomous nervous system keeps me breathing, my heart beating, the temperature of my body constant, the hormone levels needed, and a host of other internal systems in balance — automatically. I don’t have to think about them. When there is a problem, for example when I get a sliver, the body reports in: “Mission control we have a problem. There is a sharp object causing discomfort near the big toe. What do you want to do about it?” My response, “Thanks command module, I’m driving in traffic right now and it’s not the best time to address this. It’s not too serious, it can wait till I’m home.” The executive in me has the privilege of making the high-level decisions. My attention, my focus, my ability to concentrate on one thing, is my reality.
Think about the eye. I may see everything in front of me, but only one object may be my focus. Yes, I generally see the landscape in my periphery vision and I’m aware if something suddenly is different that needs me to change my focus. My eye adjusts quickly (and automatically) to the lighting, but still, I may only look at one thing. The personal computer has made the concept of “multitasking” a workplace term— the ability to run several processes at the same time. But I cannot confuse my ability to “change my attention quickly between processes” as actual multitasking. It is the best I can do, but I cannot call it multitasking. It’s not. To further disappoint those who are proud of these abilities, you have a loss of quality in your split attention. It’s not the same as being all-in on one point of attention. My brain, my person, cannot focus on more than one thing. I may have many activities that need my attention going at the same time: the eggs on the stove, the coffee brewing, the toast in the toaster, the lawn being watered, a text message ding on my phone, and the clock ticking toward my departure for work, but like my vision is aware of all the activity in my periphery, there is only one thing I may give my full attention.
By design.
Man was born with the ability to think one thought at a time.
At the end of my life the differentiator will be what I have chosen to focus my attention upon. Whatever it is, that object will transform my character into its image. I will become like that which I have observed. Think about it. The autonomous nervous system serves man to one particular end — to manage the mundane (albeit extremely important) task of keeping the body alive while releasing my mind to consider — even more important things. I have a certain capacity every day to apply myself. Will it be work? Family? A new relationship that has piqued my interest? A skill I want to develop? So many choices. Choices constantly vying for my attention.
The requirement that my attention must focus on one thing, magnifies the importance of personal values. The uniqueness of me as an individual may be defined by what I value and the resulting action I take as a result. They distinguish one priority above another. Values are not hard coded in me, there are often many, and they compete with each other. Today, I may read a book or watch a football game. I can talk with my son or work on a project. I can exercise or sit on the couch and watch a good movie to decompress from a tough week. I can cling to my own time, schedule, or plans, or I can make room for others or have a conversation with my Father. Understanding my core value(s) is transforming. Sometimes we elevate certain values above others, such as exercise and good nutrition above a day of rest on the couch eating easy food. Whether or not I acknowledge them, my values are present and define me. Sometimes they are obscured from my sight because I have overlaid my life with a veneer of “acceptableness” in order to meet two other basic and core human needs: acceptance and connectedness. I know many good people who concede pursuing their desires for an easily acquired obligation to serve others — as if they do not have a choice.
Some people misconstrue laziness, lethargy, and sleepiness with a failed character. Or its cousin, the love of pleasure and ease with a corrupted character — when instead it may reflect intentional apathy. But what if those behaviors are really only a symptom to mask a deeper struggle with the despair and hopelessness because I am ignoring or not knowing myself? My abilities? My potential? When my life, or any life, is knocked off course and my expression is misaligned with core value(s), activities can take a rather bizarre and meandering course for the 70-90 years I am alive — constantly conceding to others who tell me how I should live or act or spend my time. Submitting to the dominant and overbearing values of others.
My life story becomes sloppy and disconnected when I don’t understand the important relationship of my body’s limitation to focus on one thing with my core values. Connecting these two and understanding my opportunities within them are absolutely liberating. I have only one life to live, one attention to give, and knowing what means the most to me personally helps me make choices that align and make me who I am. Why would I ever want to listen to another voice pointing me a different direction — a direction that serves another?
Being intentional is not only my responsibility, it is my obligation. Even if I am unaware of how my will and motivation are being held hostage, there is only one person responsible for that to which I devote my attention. Me.
As a result, believers are encouraged in the written word to focus on that which is the most worthy:
Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and soul and might.
Deuteronomy 6:5.
Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things (that I need) will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33.
Let your eyes look directly ahead, your gaze fixed straight in front of you.
Proverbs 4:25
Don’t turn aside to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.
Deuteronomy 28:14
And your ears will hear a word behind you, ‘this is the way, walk in it.’
Isaiah 30:21
In the sermon on the mount, Jesus said:
The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Matthew 6:22-23 NKJV
From Helps Word Studies the Greek for “(if therefore your eye is) good” is haploús meaning unfolded, single – literally, “without folds” (J. Thayer), referring to a single (undivided) focus, i.e. without a (secret) “double agenda” which prevents an over-complicated life (becoming needlessly distracted). Haploús is the antonym of the Greek term diplous meaning, “double.”
Immediately after this he also said:
No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Matthew 6:24 NKJV
What is the “one thing” I will focus my attention on today? If I don’t decide, my constantly abiding values of ease, and pleasure will be happy to decide for me. Either way, I will choose one thing or another. I think about the time I will receive a new body and wonder if it will have an increased capacity to connect on multiple levels at the same time. That would be so awesome. Although my future possibilities are limitless, today I will work within the limitation I have and focus on “one thing” — to be intentional, goal-focused, and use the capacity I have to stare into my Father’s incredible gaze and be changed into that same character… from glory to glory.