by Bishop Todd Hunter

There is a lot to be said about the simple notion of focus. In “Whistling in the Dark,” Frederick Buechner gives us wisdom for finding focus:

“Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are but, more often than not, God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from and is summoning you to where, if your soul is to be saved, you should go to next.”

What makes you cry? It will feel harsh to ignore all the other problems of the world. You may even accuse yourself of burying your head in the sand. But stop that self-incriminating inner dialogue.

Your heroes did. Dorothy Day’s focus on just conditions for workers could have brought accusations of not caring about the spread of nuclear weapons. MLK, known mostly for his work on racism/civil rights, also cared a great deal about associated issues like economic problems and matters of war/peace. To focus on few things, he had to ignore a myriad of other things.

Ignore is just the back of the coin called focus. Focus is a statement of humility. Focus comes from hearing a specific calling from God. God never called anyone to everything. What is the one thing that breaks your heart, that makes you cry?

Start there…today.