Pastor s Column: You can change your focus
By STEVE SCHROEDER
Parkview Mennonite Brethren Church
Anticipation is building as harvest time approaches. People are wondering
Questions like these have been raised in this community for decades already and in other parts of the world for centuries. Harvest time is busy, hectic, exhausting, and it can yield some great life lessons. One wise ancient king made these reflections about harvest: Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
This powerful observation, if we stop to think about it, may hit a little too close to home for many of us. When it comes time to plant, it's easy to find excuses. "The wind is too strong today. The ground is not exactly right. I don't feel like it today. Tomorrow will be better." And so it goes. Those who only watch the wind never do get to planting!
A similar tragedy can happen at harvest time. "The field's too wet today. It could rain any time. Why go through the hassle of getting started? I'll wait for a better day." And soon there is no harvest.
You don't have to be a farmer to get distracted by wind and clouds. They are present in every job, in every relationship, in every marriage, in every church and in every community. The wind can be things we don't anticipate (or don't like) that blow into our lives — an illness in the family, an unexpected death or the loss of a job.
The clouds could be people who are ready to "dampen" our ideas or goals or plans. They could also be circumstances that simply knock us off balance. Unfortunately, too many people these days spend their time "watching the wind and clouds" and never getting to what they need to do.
Choosing to do the right thing each day is hard. It's normal for our focus to be momentarily captured by unexpected wind and clouds. That certainly happens when the clouds include lightening and thunder. Focusing on life's distractions or making personal excuses can easily cripple us from doing what we need to do.
Be honest. Have the wind and clouds in your life kept you from enjoying a bountiful harvest? You know that we can't control the distractions that life throws our way any more than we can control the clouds or the wind. But we must not let that stop us from doing what we know we ought to do.
So, since you can't change the "weather" around you, you'll have to change your focus. That means no more gazing at the problems and the chaos. No more lamenting about how things used to be. No more dwelling on the things you don't like right now.
Do you really want to expend your energy on "storm watching?" Why not chose to look beyond those things and get on with the important things in life? You can, you know. It's your choice. Go for it!
