Distraction is when I SQUIRREL!

Distraction's all over the place today, isn't it? When's the last time you were able to consistently focus on anything (or any ONE, for that matter?)

The ironic thing is that we have absolutely flooded our lives and our society with an endless array of cutting edge tools that are supposed to save us time, to enhance productivity, to enable each one of us to live a more fulfilling and easygoing life.

But do these things do that? Why is it that the more time-saving stuff I acquire, the less time I actually seem to have? Why do the lauded stress and difficulty reducing toys only seem to make my life more stressful and more complicated? Why is it that the more apps I download to help me keep track of everything, the more forgetful I seem to be?

I think the short answer is that life isn't about productivity. Life isn't about having no stress. Live is about love. I'm here to love, plain and simple. I'm here to live in community with fellow sojourners on the journey to eternity, and God expects me to be truly present to the people I encounter along the way. He expects me to show some interest in them, who they are, where they're from, what their dreams, hopes, struggles and fears are.

I can't do any of that if I'm distracted all of the time. I am incapable - not just bad at, but truly incapable - of genuine love when I choose patterns of thought and behavior that result in routine ignorance of what's going on around me. Let's try and start small! How about one less show today? One less e-mail check at night? Maybe one less Facebook wall browsing session. We didn't get so disconnected through all of our connectivity overnight, and we won't truly reconnect so quickly either! But perhaps we can all move toward a more authentic human experience of full and love-filled life if we learn how to take one step at a time.

St. Thomas Aquinas, patron of those whose minds and memories and attention need a little work, pray for us!