How Focused Is Your Focus

The weekend has been a whirlwind of activity. In the course of all that has been going on, I found myself becoming an observer. I have been watching others as they have found a particular focus. As I sit here tonight, the late breaking news on all the 24 hour news channels is that North Korea has exploded a nuclear underground test. Obviously, that should be our focus. 24 hours ago or so, I performed the wedding for Kevin and Saronn. I doubt that their focus was on anything except the wedding and the honeymoon. Over the last week I have watched my normal diet of NFL talk. The focus of the entire week was on T.O. coming to Philadelphia and what would happen. Well, after all the talk T.O. did almost nothing and the Eagles beat the Cowboys - now all the football pundits look foolish for trying to get us to focus on T.O. coming back to Philly (although the game was a really good football game to watch). To be real honest, I have been focusing on reading the next book for my class and making sure that I understand what it says. Everything else has been a distant second. Except, this morning I had to preach at a church here in Pasadena. You know, it's funny how something like that can consume your focus, even if it was for only an hour or so.
So many things compete for our attention in life. Our kids, job, boss, house, car, co-workers, bills, taxes, food, traffic, illness, schoolwork, and T.O. (OK, maybe not T.O.). But, nevertheless, the problem of getting through the day or the week is figuring out what I am supposed to focus upon. What is important to me? What is important to the world in which I live? What is important to those with whom I am in relationship? What am I supposed to focus upon? I won't presume to answer this question. All I really know is that you cannot focus on everything. Somehow, each of us has to decide what is really important. And in determining what is important, all I really know is that you cannot do it in isolation. Whatever you think is important it must also be important to the world around you. Otherwise, you end up being selfish and self-serving.