Focus

It appears to me to be a question of focus. Focus on you, or on me, or on “us.” I think (at this juncture) that those are the defining elements of any relationship. Where are you focused? Where am I focused? No other question is as critical to the definition of any association of parties. And, this world all around me makes me keenly aware of the results of unharmonious focus. Where you and I are both focused on you… we get along just fine… harmony… agreement. Where you and I agree to focus on me, we, again, have no conflict… hence harmony. Where the two of us have opted to focus on different elements of our relationship, we will be as destined to running aground, or crashing on life’s rocks as any ship being navigated by two separate navigators charting separate courses. It seems to me to be just that simple. Yet how complicated when considering the matter in our daily walk. So many voices urging us from so many divergent pulpits all declaring the righteousness of their ideology. And we find ourselves just “trying to be happy” in our simplistic naiveté and desire to experience a life of serene harmony that is not demonstrated by any living soul in our personal world of awareness.

I awoke this morning with an insight painted across the canvass of my awareness. An awareness that was, by no means, a new revelation. A reminder of long known truth. And an unpleasant reality. (What a lousy way to start a day!) Yet… I have been, since my waking moment, compelled to embrace that old, unpleasant truth… and deal with it! I was reminded (by the author of all truth) of my role in the myriad relationships of my life… youth to present… business relationships; religious relationships; community relationships; and yes (the most disappointing of all) personal relationships. My present states of personal aloneness; dismal economic status; religious separateness; and social isolation will give ample testimony to my success in all of the aforementioned. Hence I can speak, with some degree of authority, on the subject of divergent focus in a relationship… of any kind. Yet, My Dear Friend, please be aware… these are all the result of my own conscious and willful election. I have chosen to Be… to physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually Be that person that was specifically created to be who I am, with my focus where it is… as my own responsible and intentional determination. But that knowledge does little to mitigate the occasional pain of solitary confinement… even though it is by choice.


So, Dear One, I am telling you from a place of living truth… please be mindful of where your focus, in your life, is. I promise you that there are inescapable consequences to your election of focus. Pay heed to the focus of that organization with which you are affiliated. If it is your intent to remain with that group… ask yourself “Do we share the same focus?” Then determine, from that insight, what the likelihood of long-term harmony is for you there. And (yes… I know that your mind has already raced to the following applications ahead of my ability to type the words… but here it is) apply that same test to all of those people, places, and things that you are entertaining hopes or aspirations of being part of today… and in your tomorrows… and permit yourself the healthy and constructive examination of comparison focuses.

Though I know that all of this can seem vague and somewhat generalized to the point of scattered… I also know that there are some for whom this perspective is exactly where they are in readiness… at this very moment. For them in their readiness, I offer this next step in growth… for you. If these considerations seem somewhat abstract and foggy, I offer this seed for your planting until such time as your life is ready to utilize its germination. As I remain;

Your constant Friend and Servant,
John-Michael