Skip to main content

Focusing

See that?  That's the end of your nose.  And maybe just a short space in front of it.  Pretty easy to focus on that, isn't it?  That's the

Get up, get dressed,
Why am I already stressed?
Where's your trainers?  Where's my keys?
Not "I want, I want!"  Say please!
Now your coat's on front to back - 
No, you may not have a snack.
Out the door, we're running late.
Look, a car! A dog! A gate!
Now who was it I had to see?
Do you really need a wee?
One day I'll make this house pristine.
Right now I don't have time to clean.
What's for dinner?  I don't know..
OK, off to bed you go!
Story, pajamas, lights out, sleep.
Collapse in an exhausted heap. 

of everyday life.

Now turn that focus wheel... out... out... out...

Past Immediate Concerns...
Past Worries About Family...
Past Where Is My Life Going To...
Past News of Importance I Should Have An Opinion About...

See that?   That's a star... so far away that the light has taken hundreds of years to reach your eye.  

Watch it.  Maybe it will come closer.  

Maybe it will lead you...

Focus.


When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
    the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 

 what is man that you are mindful of him,
    and the son of man that you care for him?

Psalm 8:3-4 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Springtime walks: Croxden Abbey and Shining Cliff Woods

It seems to be taking a long time to get properly warm, this spring. But suddenly there are flowers everywhere and the world has turned green. We had to go and see it all. Croxden Abbey 800 years ago, there was a community of 70 monks at Croxden Abbey, hidden away in a beautiful nook of Staffordshire. Now there are peaceful ruins, carpeted with soft green grass. It was hard to imagine the space filled with busy worship and work. Croxden abbey cloisters the west door of the church We had parked at the village of Hollington and walked down the hill, playing a game of spot-the-animal. In just a few short fields we had seen sheep, cattle, horses, alpacas, rabbits, a dog, and even a donkey. We decided we only needed pigs to make our farm animal collection complete! It wasn't a long hike - we probably spent just as long eating snacks and playing hide and seek in the abbey ruins, as we did walking. Our return journey took us past a few horses, but sadly no pigs. We followed an old Roman r

God is Not a White Man: Spiritual Formation Book 8

"I studied Theology... Despite the fact that most of the world's religious people are not white, we learnt very little about the theological thinking and experiences of Black and brown people." Chine McDonald is director of Theos, an organisation which provides research and opinion on the place of religion in society. She moved to the UK from Nigeria at the age of four. McDonald has been involved with the Evangelical Alliance, Christian Aid, and Greenbelt, as well as working as a journalist, so she has some wide-ranging experiences within the Christian and secular culture. This book uses stories from her own life, and historical examples, to illustrate the problem of racism in the church. She focuses on the British church in particular, although she refers to American events too. What are the main themes of this book? McDonald's argument is that white people - men in particular - have been assumed to be superior. They are regarded as more intelligent, more authoritati

Walking the National Forest Way (with a two year break)

Remember when it was lockdown and we were all stuck in our houses for months on end? Well, way back then I hatched a plan of walking the National Forest Way as a family project. I ordered the map, downloaded the route guides, and we did the first section in 2021: Yoxall to the National Memorial Arboretum (Stage 12). The photos tell me it was a beautiful April day - I was wearing shorts! The 5-mile route was pleasant, across fields and through scraps of woodland, then hopping over the Trent and Mersey Canal into the village of Alrewas. After that we had a hair-raising walk along a pavement right next to the A38 dual carriageway, with cars zipping past at 70mph, but fortunately that was a very short section before we turned off towards the National Memorial Arboretum. Of course we had to celebrate with an ice cream - why else would we finish at the Arboretum instead of starting there?  Smaller boys! Lockdown haircuts! At the finishing point A well-deserved treat There followed a very. l