The Focus of Our Lives

 

I’ve seen and felt God’s influence in a number of ways and in a number of people around me in recent weeks.  And in feeling God’s presence, I felt greatly blessed; I felt “joy”.  Today, however, I noticed a number of other things, which recently caught my attention, all seem to have some level of commonality.  I noticed the way some people had a primary focus in their life: on control, on love or the unintended impact of not loving, or even the impact of sin.  Their focus seemed to heavily impact relationships, or just the opposite of relationships, their self-focus, autonomy.  These things didn't seem good.

I read about a Martine Rothblatt, born male now trans-sexual, who is a rich, extremely accomplished person (founder of SiriusXM Satellite Radio and top exec in many major corporations), and who is now focused on AI computer relationships --- transfer your mind and focus on computer artificial intelligence, eliminating the need for bodies.  There are many young people who now live out their days totally interacting via avatars.  Some say Rothblatt, like a few other extremely accomplished people, are autistic, extremely intelligent and extremely focused, but like all autistic are unable to form natural relationships, except ones they focus on --- extremely.  I recently wrote how Down’s Syndrome people are very loving, but not so intelligent; they seem almost the opposite of those extreme autistic people.

Today I heard the priest say how the early Romans took notice that their Christian slaves seemed very happy --- slaves, happy??  It didn’t make sense to the Romans, who found happiness when focused on power or sensual pleasures, things they could control, kind of like those autistic people are doing (or, I guess, people addicted to porn).  The slaves changed their focus from making themselves happy --- which they had no power to do --- to making God and their neighbor happy.  And in living and loving as Jesus taught and exampled, the slaves found joy.  And Jesus showed how the cross was the ultimate example of love of God and love of neighbor.  It was the ultimate of letting go of self-control and, with God’s grace, letting God control.

Finally, I recently heard Dan Burke, of the Avila Institute, speak about sin.  He notes that if we do not fully consent to sin or are not fully aware of sin, we are not culpable, and need not confess those sins.  “it’s not a culpable sin if I don’t know it and consent to it..”  But Burke then focused on things which “hurt the Lord”, even if we are not culpable.  He gave the example of a child running in front of our car from behind a parked car.  If we hit and killed that child, we did not sin --- we had no intention or ability to stop it.  But, Burke stated, some things we do are sins --- hurts to God --- even if we don’t know they are.  In my thinking, however, Burke seems focused somewhere between self-ism (I am and want to be totally in control) and self-denial (total love of God and neighbor).  Burke would have us focus on some level of self-ism, focused on not doing things he believes would make God unhappy --- and thus would make Burke happy.

I believe all these things come down to this question:  why deliberately choose to focus my life at all?  Today at mass I heard:

Consider your own calling, brothers, Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many of you were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  Rather, God chose the foolish of this world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong, and God chose the lowly and despised of the world, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who are something, so that no human being might boast before God.

-          1Cor 26-29

 

Notice that it is God who chooses.  Man is given a free will, but it is to freely choose what God has chosen.  Man can choose so as to control his earthly life, but only God can choose his eternal life.  God is ultimately in control.

I think I’ll try not to be concerned about those seeking to control the world, whether through world government or artificial intelligence, or even those trying to be more perfect Christians, but I will focus on letting God control my life.  “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.  I want to be who You created me to be.  I want to do YOUR will.”  I will not focus on controlling myself or others for my advantage, but will practice humility.

And in answer to my prayer, I trust He will show me opportunities to participate in His will. And I will find joy.

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Paragraph 215 of the Catholic Catechism notes “God is truth itself,” and so we can fully trust Him.  In paragraph 218 it notes that “God had only one reason to reveal Himself … His sheer gratuitous love … as a father’s love for his son.”

God’s focus is love, and He told us that should be our focus.  There are only two commandments:  Love God and Love Neighbor.  It’s to live like a perfect family.  I heard a great definition of the word family the other day, and I think it is a definition of what our focus should be in life.  It’s a definition of the example Jesus gave us on how to live:  in family.  And the definition is:

Forget About Me, I Love You,       FAMILY