Listen Closely (03/07/2025)

It was my grandson’s birthday. So, we asked my daughter if we could take them to dinner along with my son who’d come for an overnight visit. We went to the local family restaurant. We were having a great time, talking to one another as well as the waitress and a man who was dining alone at a nearby table. Then my son asked me a question. I thought he asked me where the napkins were, so I pointed to the stack of napkins at the center of the table. Immediately, everyone at the table broke into laughter. My son asked if I was sure I wanted him to do that. That’s when I realized I may have not been listening as closely as I should have. Turns out, he’d asked me where the bathroom was.

I’ve learned, the older I get, that I am easily distracted. I think I have “laser focus” until something like this happens. Then I have to step back and realize just how often I am not listening closely, I am not focused, I am trying to juggle multiple things at once – multiple tasks, multiple conversations, multiple ideas. “Be still” I hear my soul tell my mind and body. “Be present.”

That’s the focus of my Lenten journey this year. I have come to realize how much I am missing because I am distracted, because I am trying to “juggle” rather than just “be.” My journey will be one of simplifying. It will be one of focusing on the essentials of the moment. It will be about being present to the LORD and to others in the moment.

It is only my third day into this journey and I’ve become more aware of how much time I spend thinking about what is around the bend than living the moment I’m in. I’ve turned this over to the LORD multiple times. I realize that the LORD isn’t hard of hearing, so the catch must be in my ability to let go of my habit. I’m working on it. When someone else is with me, my phone needs to be in my pocket, not my hand. When someone is with me, I need to listen to them, not the television or the conversation of others nearby. When someone is with me, my eyes need to be on them, not the dessert case or the people who just walked by. Like I said, I’m working on it.

The LORD has a way of telling us what we need to do, what we need to change. I’d been trying to decide what I was going to do for Lent for some time before the incident with the family at the restaurant. The incident was on Fat Tuesday. God is always on time.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.