The following comes from “Broken and Beloved, 2019”

STEP ONE: BREATHE

Take a deep, cleansing breath. Allow the air to fill your lungs and expand your body. Exhale and empty yourself into the room. Repeat three times - once for the one who Created you, once for the Incarnate One who walks beside you, and once for the Spirit whose life fills your being.

STEP TWO: DWELL IN WORD

“The time is surely coming, says the Lord God,when I will send a famine on the land;not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water,but of hearing the words of the Lord.They shall wander from sea to sea,and from north to east;they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord,but they shall not find it.””

— Amos 8: 11-12

Sometimes it is hard to get the words out and put them down on paper. The white screen with blinking cursor might as well be a mystical portal to another realm that is blocked by the magic of a dark wizard. Words don't always come; even to a professional purveyor of words.

Sometimes my mind wanders to faraway places or shifts through an abstract blur. Even though I need to be elsewhere, I allow the mental drift to happen. I have found that fighting it is worse. Better to ride the flow than to struggle in the riptide.

Why am I so easily distracted? I'm no longer a child. My hormone-filled teenage years are a distant memory. I have arrived in those middle years of life where I've established my routines, likes/dislikes, and I'm comfortable mostly in my skin.

Try as I might, however, to focus on the things that I need to do around the house, pay attention to the needs of others in my family, and work through a never decreasing to-do list at church -I remain susceptible to a rogue thought or passing squirrel. As much as I welcome the diversion when I reenter reality, I find that I'm overwhelmed.

Maybe it is because I expect myself to be able to multitask with the ease of a personal computer. Life is busy. So much goes on in the hours that I'm awake. When I try to expand the number of hours in a day, I find out the hard way of the value of a good night's sleep.

I know that when I'm distracted, it hurts my relationships with others. When I drift off or give in to the beckoning call of my smartphone with its silly games, I am not available to my family. You could say the same thing about every other sphere of my life including my spirituality. Distractions compromise my availability; I am less present when I'm chasing squirrels and butterflies. Whence did butterflies come?

When I'm not present at the moment, I miss things. I lack the availability necessary to engage, receive, comment, listen, or respond appropriately. Unaware of others - their needs, wants, desires, ideas - I get trapped in a vortex of self-interest.

Everything becomes all about me. I am at the center of the universe and disconnected by my delusion. In the extreme, this is a dangerous place at which to arrive. Here is where you create impotent gods out of straw. It is a socially and spiritually bankrupt location that will result in nothing good for ourselves, others, and the rest of the planet.

I forget about practicing my faith. In the heat of such days, my spirit withers a bit under the radiation of my self-concern. The questions are no longer: where is God in this day or what would God have me to do with this day? Instead, I replace any thought about God and God's will for my life with ME. What works best for me? What seems most right for me?

When I wander off all by myself into the land of daydreams, I disavow all my connections and responsibilities. It feels for a moment like freedom. For a moment there is a joy as I cast cares aside. Yay! No more worries!

Of course, all these things (the worries, cares, connections, responsibilities) shall return and with an unsympathetic harshness. When that happens, my spirit crashes again into a pit of despair.

They were too busy with a great many things: relationships, business, and possessions. When the invitation arrived from the king, they were distracted and unavailable. They forgot the importance of their presence at the King's event. Although the grand banquet was the central event, they allowed their distractions to deceive them into thinking that they had more pressing matters. On account of their inattention, their seats were given away.

STEP THREE: RESPOND IN PRAYER

Gracious and Loving God, I am easily distracted by a great many things. When I wander off, go with me. Watch over me closely. Remind me of your everlasting love when I forget that I'm your beloved child. Reconnect me with others, when I mistakenly think that I can go through the world by myself. Through Jesus Christ, amen.