The Art of Distraction

As I sit down to pray the Liturgy of the Hours my mind is flooded with things of a critical nature that need my immediate attention. There is this great, incredible urge to put down my breviary and attend to those things first. I try to focus and press on, trying not to speed up my reading as to get done hastily.

About a half of the way through I start to get some peace of mind. The words start to flow and I become engrossed in the prayers. As I begin the concluding prayer I am awash in contentment, as if I had just finished running a marathon or have just finished a really good meal.

Now, on to those things that just couldn’t wait. I sit and think and for the life of me I can’t remember what they were. They were so important just fifteen minutes ago and now I have no clue.

This is the game I play with the devil several times a day. He doesn’t want me to pray so he fills my head with every excuse he can think of to keep me from doing it. Sadly, some days he is successful. Some days I get to the end of the day and realize that I have not spent this time with the Lord and I instantly feel like that fat kid who decides to eat an entire banana cream pie instead of going to the gym.

Then there is the guilt, which comes from him as well. It is not bad to feel guilt when we have done something wrong as long as we know that Jesus is always ready to forgive us if only we ask with an honest heart.

“Lord, I let the devil beat me today. Please forgive me and fill me with your strength as not to do the same thing tomorrow.”

That is the way the devil works. God speaks to us in a still, small voice that we have to listen for to hear. Knowing this, the devil will fill our day with as many distractions as he possibly can so we will miss God’s voice when it comes to us. I find no coincidence that as we have become more connected through our computers and cell phones that we have also become a less godly society. God is no longer in our government, schools, and places of work. He is barely in our families or our churches.

The more connected we become through social media the less connected we actually are with our neighbor. The things that used to bring us together in celebration now are experienced as likes on a webpage. We are losing touch with each other.

God created the world in six days. On the seventh day he rested. Did he have to rest because he was tired? Absolutely not. God rested to teach us the importance of rest. He set one day aside so that we could set everything aside for one day and enter into his rest. It is the day that we are called to worship him and spend time communing with one another. Of course, these days that day looks just like the rest. The devil fills that day with as much distraction as the others to keep us away from God.

Only you can put down the cell phone, the TV, the sports, or anything else occupying your time on that day. The devil surely won’t stop the distractions for you. It has to be a conscious action on your part to ignore him.  Take the time to listen for that still, small voice. God has something very important for you to hear.