Man must reverse the first dispersal of the soul by drawing unto himself the attention which he unnecessarily gives to his thoughts, emotional reactions and sensations, and which results in the deformation and distortion of the entire human organism, to the extent that he has fallen to the level of a sick animal….As long as [he] has no control over his attention his possibilities remain imprisoned in the ego no matter what ideals he espouses and no matter what efforts he expends.Jacob Needleman
Two old men, both octogenarians, study the meal placed before them in the retirement home. The first notices hints of brown tracing the edges of the lettuce in the salad. He also notes the main course – which appears to be some failed attempt at lasagna. He sniffs it, and shudders. He glances at the glass of tea, which appears to be weak without nearly enough ice.
He sighs.
The second man removes his baseball cap from his head and says, “Let’s give thanks.”
He bows his head and prays. Halfway through expressing gratitude for the meal before him, his voice begins to quiver. He musters a feeble Amen.
The first man is incredulous. “Are you crying? What’s going on?”
Putting his baseball cap back on, the first man replies, “I’m just so blessed to have something to eat. So many have nothing.”
“How can you say that? This food isn’t fit for a dog!”
“When I was a boy, we had no food in the house. My daddy was a janitor and my momma had nine mouths to feed. We had no electricity and no running water. Every day the grocery man would drive by our house to the nearby dump to get rid of the day old bread and expired food from the store. He would honk twice as he went by to let us know. I would run to the dump and forage through the food to find something to eat. And sometimes I would get there before the dogs did and find something.
“And them ladies back there in the kitchen? That’s a volunteer group that cooked it today. They didn’t even have to be here, but they got up, got dressed, drove over here, and cooked so we could have these plates before us. I’m honored someone would consider me worth their effort.”
He raises his tea glass to his friend. “Let’s eat!”
Two men. One meal. One is deeply grateful. The other is dissatisfied.
What makes the difference?
Focus. The focus of the first man is evaluating the quality of the food and whether or not it meets his high standards to satisfy his palate. The focus of the second man is on the sheer privilege of having food to eat at all and people willing to provide it.
Today’s focus is on focus – and how it can awaken us to the true joy of being. Without soul-centered focus, we find ourselves wandering in the frustrating, ego-centered world of pursuing sensory stimulation aimed at pleasing the shallows of our being: our thoughts and emotions.
You are not your thoughts. You are not your emotions. These elements comprise only the skin that surrounds the real you and reveals what’s beneath – your soul.
It’s time to get under your skin.
Source Scripture
Everyone Out of the Pool: John 5:1-16
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Extras
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