The One Thing

I think one of the things I enjoyed most about being on the road last summer was that all of life seemed to be part of a whole. Everything was geared to "the Ride." Ronald Rolheiser writes about that kind of focus in his book "The Holy Longing." He writes that Mother Theresa's incredible focus on the "one thing" made her a very powerful and compelling woman. That's how saints are made.

Curly in "City Slickers" agrees. The secret to life is "one thing." That's why we write vision statements and goals. To try to keep us focused on the "one thing."

Modern life doesn't allow us the luxury of living for one thing. (Unless we live in a monastery and even then!) Multi tasking is prized. Opportunities are rampant. Needs are clammering. The temptation is to do everything - or nothing. To be frantic or overwhelmed. Or both. I recognize the condition. I recognize how fragmented I live. And I don't have an answer.

I started receiving spiritual direction again. It is good to gather all my fragments under God's umbrella again for mending and sorting and being made again into a whole. As Christ Followers, the Bible asks us to return to our first love. (That image doesn't work for me. I found first love to be very fragmenting! Maybe I'm getting too old to enjoy the thought!) But to return to the "one thing." Yes. I get that. I need to redirect my heart to the "One Thing." And I'm finding that it takes an act of Will and Choice. Prayer keeps me focused on the "One thing" and slowly all the other things find their place. Duty to myself, duties to others, duties to God all slowly take their place. Did I say slowly?

But Gosh, I fight that. There must be some fun in being fragmented. Being pulled apart. Or the deception of it - that we are needed. Wanted. Important. Free. Immediate.

Lent starts next week. I wish you all a season of returning to the "One Thing."

Love,
Mary