Years ago, Marilyn and I made a road trip to Florida with another couple. The miles flew by quickly and we did our best to wear out an 8-track of Kenny Rogers and The First Edition as the four of us wailed, “I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in.”
It was the middle of winter in the Buckeye state and we were four country kids determined to feel the warmth of the summer past. We stopped at the first beach community, rented a cheap motel room and hit the waves. We were so excited to be exposed to the warmth of the sun, we didn’t give a thought to how lily white we were. Compared to the bronzed locals we must have looked like movie extras posing for a new beach movie, “Hillbillies in Spandex.”
We planned a week’s vacation including two days to get there, two days on the beach and two days to get home. So, on the fourth day we carefully eased our sunburnt bodies into my Monte Carlo and pointed it toward Ohio… or at least we thought we did.
Apparently our sun-soaked days on the beach had softened our senses. We were so preoccupied with passing bags of snack food and singing through 8-track tapes that we took the wrong entrance onto the interstate. Hours and miles passed before one of us questioned, “Did that sign say south? Shouldn’t we be going north?”
You’d think we would be upset that we’d been traveling the wrong direction all that time. But we weren’t! In fact, we all agreed we were making too good a time to turn back now! Today, decades later we still laugh about our extended vacation to Florida. We also agree that we’re just not good at multitasking.
I’ve never been good at multitasking. I’m not sure anyone is. I’ve often wondered if those who think they are good at multitasking are actually only doing more things poorly. We multitask in order to maximize our efforts. But the hard truth is, we usually only succeed in minimizing ourselves. Trying to do more things in less time has thrown our entire culture into a vortex of diminishing returns. Most agree that our culture suffers from hurried sickness: we are becoming less relational while communicating more than ever before. However, instead of pulling the car over, we step on the gas, convinced we can catch up. We seem to agree we’re going the wrong way, but we’re making too good a time to turn back.
Lately, I’ve been trying to spread myself thicker…not thinner. (So far it’s only shown up around my waist, but that’s another story altogether.) I’m talking about being more “in the moment”—more sensitive to others, focusing more on others and less on myself. We all relate to the report of the family seen sitting at a restaurant table oblivious to one another, each focused on their smart phone. It’s ironic, isn’t it, that the phone is the only smart one in that picture?
You’ve probably heard the statement, “We are human BEings, not human Doings.” Jesus was pressed in on by crowds everywhere he went, yet he often picked one person out of the crowd to interact with personally. I’m grateful we have his example. Some day our bodies will give up on us and we’ll move into eternity. At that time God won’t be concerned with the number of tasks we’ve done but who we have become.
On numbers of occasions Jesus encouraged his followers to carefully consider the importance of their activities in light of eternity. Here are two of my personal favorites;
First he said, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26
Later he said, “What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?” Matthew 16:26
I continue to get caught up in the rapid pace of everyday responsibilities, but I’ve discovered that when I stop and read Jesus’ words, my breathing slows down and my tension begins to melt away. I’m much less likely to take a wrong turn when I’m focused on him.