Deacons' Council Diocese of Orlando at 135 Marion Oak Lane, Ocala, FL 34473-2631 US - Make God Your Dominant Focus

Most people don't really appreciate what they have - until they lose it, or until someone tries to take it away from them. For two months how, we have had to watch as someone has tried to take from us our individual, personal, freedom. So if you're like me, you probably do not take that freedom for granted now, as much as you did in the past. Listen to these words. I have committed them to memory for you because I think it can be helpful to you to reflect upon them, and perhaps we can build some thoughts out of them: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and they have BEEN ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR, with certain inalienable rights, and among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Political Geniuses who lived in our Nation over two hundred years ago did not take those basic rights for granted. And...they knew where they came from. They were, and are, a gracious gift from God. They readily recognized the presence of the Living God in the course of human events, and maintained as their dominant focus, gratitude to God for all the goodness he bestows. For too many years, many Americans have taken God's gifts for granted. Many have ignored or refused to recognize his living presence in their lives. And...that is perplexing! Because recognition of the presence of God and gratitude for all the good he bestows is part of our American Culture. It runs deep within our American Heritage. Long before the words to our Declaration of Independence were written, the first New England Winter had come to an end for the tiny Pilgrim settlement in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It had been a hard, cold winter. Many in the community had been wiped out by the cold or disease. Of those who survived, many were still ill. They were living in a harsh environment, surrounded on three sides by wilderness with their backs to the ocean. Their supplies were low, their rations were depleted, and they were living among people whom they regarded as Savage. And their reaction to all this...was to hold a Feast! They wanted to give gratitude to God for all the good he had bestowed! They had just come through a hard, cold, bitter winter: and they gave thanks to God for the on-set of Spring and the coming of Summer. They lived in a harsh environment, surrounded on three sides by wilderness with their backs to the ocean: and they gave thanks to God for the abundance of game in the forests and fish in the sea. Their rations were low, their supplies were depleted, and they were living among people whom they regarded as Savage: and they gave thanks to God for the friendship and assistance of these early Native Americans. These Pilgrims were not Pollyanna people. They were not people living in psychological denial. These were tough, hardened people with a grasp of the realities of life, and they kept as their dominant focus the presence of God in their lives and gratitude for all the good he bestows. Many historians now believe that this feast, was the single factor that so lifted the spirits of that community, and eased their anxieties, that it freed their minds to find the strength and the will to finally conquer the harsh environment in which they lived. There is no telling what may have been the final, sad chapter in the story of the Pilgrims if they had not been people with rock-bound faith, focused upon God and his goodness. There is a saying among race car drivers: "Don't look at the wall". They are referring to what you must do if your car is out of control and heading for the wall. They say, "Don't look at the wall-don't look where you don't want the car to go". Because, they believe, if you keep looking at the wall, eventually it will become your dominant focus, and when that happens, then you mind, will, unconsciously and unintentionally, direct your body to guide the car precisely where you don't want it to go - into the wall! Look away from the wall, they say, at the spot where you WANT the car to go, until IT becomes your dominant focus. Then you mind will, unconsciously and unintentionally, direct your body to guide the car where you want it to go - away from the wall. With no experience in race car driving, I cannot attest to the validity of this theory. But I can attest to this: When you apply this philosophy to your Spiritual Life, it is abundantly valid! Struggle, adversity and pain come into every life. When you are faced with these difficulties you can choose to look at the wall of your struggle until it becomes your dominant focus. When it does, your anxiety will build. As your anxiety grows, it would not be uncommon for your mind to blow all out of proportion, the obstacles in your life. If the anxiety grows big enough, then we know, your mind can unconsciously and unintentionally, convince you that the obstacles are insurmountable, there are no solutions, there is no way out. You can even then reach the extreme outgrowths of anxiety; which are discouragement, despair, and suicide. Or, faced with these difficulties, you can choose to "look away from the wall". You can choose to look at Faith. And you do that by focusing on all the abundance God has bestowed in your life. The more you focus on the good things in your life, the more your recognize the presence of God guiding and protecting you, until awareness of God's presence becomes your dominant focus. That focus then, will lift your spirits, increase your confidence, ease your anxieties, until finally, your mind, unconsciously and unintentionally, will be free to recognize the solutions to the struggle that is bringing you the pain. You can now reach the extreme outgrowths of Faith; which are calmness, confidence, Peace. So, as you seek reconciliation in the Sacrament tonight, perhaps you might reflect upon all those times you have ignored the presence of God, and took for granted all the abundance he has bestowed. And perhaps you might make this promise to him tonight: That from this day forward, you will not look at the wall of the struggles in your life. But, instead, you will make your dominant focus...His presence...and all of the abundance... He has bestowed! Deacon Jack Martin ministers at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Orlando. He delivered this homily at Mary, Mother of God Chapel, at San Pedro Center, Winter Park, FL, November 3, 2001, during the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

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