Focus

Only a liar would say that the world is free of hardship, that life is vindicated from suffering and loss. Those who have eyes to see and ears to hear understand that suffering has proliferated every life of every individual on the planet. Suffering does not heed anyone, nor does it favor any particulars. Suffering simply is; burdens are ever-present and all must carry a load. Some, of course, have drawn the short straw in life and are much less well off than others, but pain becomes present at every level of society; none are excluded.

We hope and pray for a day that will be different; we hope for a time that is free of hardship, pain, and weariness. Some try to ignore life altogether, in hope that pain or even death will overlook them. Others focus intently on every detail that occurs, trying to combat the inevitable and striving to change what is already written in stone. These men and women scrutinize their downfall, examine their inability, and study their loss. Such lifestyles produce the most stressed and wearied of all people. What these individuals do not understand is that the past is set in stone. Their studying and scrutinizing is all for naught because the past is unchangeable. So ignore the past? No! Learn from the past to prevent similar mistakes and situations in the future. But to dwell on hardship and suffering is quite simply unhealthy.

When one focuses so intently on what went wrong, they fail to see what is going right, all around them, all the time. These people are so blinded by their close scrutiny of one event, that they cannot see the good that yet remains in life. We are surrounded by blessings, surrounded by good. We live in a world that is destined for perfection and the Creator of the Universe waits along with us for all good to come about. Paul comments on this in Romans 8:20-21, "For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the One who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God." He is waiting for all evil to pass just as we are. But in the mean time, we MUST look to what is good. We cannot dwell on the failures and pain of this world for it will only lead to our decay.

The solution is not to ignore the bad in life; think about it, mourn, and move on. Learn from such mistakes, do not muddle the present with the past. And, lastly, focus on the good in life; ponder and rejoice over what has been achieved, not what has been lost. Paul comments again in 2 Corinthians 4:18 saying "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." He takes it a step further by saying that we should focus on what transcends even the good in life; we should keep our sights focused on what is eternal.

As I meandered through a garden at the Arboretum, I was floored by the sheer volume of beauty the grounds contained. Not only was the land un-trampled by industrialization, it was filled to capacity with all that is considered naturally beautiful. However, on a particular bush planted directly before me, there was an obnoxious flower, or, rather, the remains of a flower, that had died. Its presence in the garden was small, and its significance on the grounds was infinitesimal. Yet, I was so drawn to it I could hardly look away. It seemed to glare at me, saying something along the lines of "Ha, now you cannot enjoy the garden." And it was almost true! The decrepit flower had drawn my attention so strongly that I had lost complete sight of the gargantuan amount of beauty that surrounded me. I approached the flower and, kneeling down beside it, lifted my Nikon D70 to my eye. I attempted to focus on the yellow beauties that lay beyond and around the decaying individual, but my camera seemed to focus itself on the lifeless plant. I allowed my own eye to focus on the stiff, unattractive petals and pressed gently on that little silver button. I heard the sound of my shutter open and close on a subject that quite bitterly resembled death. I stood and walked away, unable to appreciate or even remember the other vivacious flowers in its company.