Live In The Moment
Many people will tell you that women multi-task better than men, while this is a stereotype; experience tends to confirm it true more often than not. In general, men’s brains compartmentalize things more than women’s brains; everything tends to be connected in some way for women. Obviously there are benefits to both tendencies given particular circumstances. On a recent trip with my family, I was busy packing the car up with all of my son’s toys, our clothes, and a cooler all while trying to get the house ready for our departure while my wife took care of our son. I thought I would try to charge my wife’s electric toothbrush as long as possible while I did everything else, but when we arrived at our destination five hours later, sadly I realized I had forgotten our entire toiletries bag, including that now super charged toothbrush. Not my best moment for multi-tasking!
There are times in our life where we can ruin what is right in front of us by trying to read into it too much. It’s great to think about the future and make plans, but relationships are probably best enjoyed in the moment. If you get thinking too far ahead of where the relationship is in the moment, you may not actually be present for the person, or might try to influence things in a direction they aren’t really going. Some hosts worry so much about entertaining people and making them feel at home that they never actually are able to sit down and spend time talking with their guests. Two women named Mary and Martha have an interesting visit with Jesus recorded in the book of Luke:
Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to Him and said, “Lord do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)
This is an example where being able to focus on one thing trumped everything else. In another passage of Scripture, a woman named Mary (who has a sister named Martha) is having dinner with Jesus in Bethany and has some forward thinking in mind that others fail to see (Mark 14:4-9). Mary broke a jar of very expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus. The disciples thought it a waste to not sell the perfume and give the money to the poor. Jesus told them to leave her alone and stated that they will always have the poor with them, but they will not always have Him. He goes on to state that this served to anoint His body for burial. While Mary’s act was for an event yet to come, it was taking advantage of the opportunity she had in the moment to do something special that would be remembered. The disciples missed it entirely but would later write about the event (Matthew 26:6-13, John 12:1-8).
With athletics, many writers and media members are always speculating on what is going to happen, whether it is draft picks that will make it in the pros, which team is going to win, or whether or not a player will end up in the hall of fame. Why can’t we just enjoy the players and the games as they are happening? Tonight, I look forward to watching you play one game, not four! I will enjoy the effort and energy that you put into the performance for tonight’s game in front of your family, friends, students, and alumni. I pray that for the next few hours you can put everything else aside, and focus on playing your best basketball game as a team regardless of who the opponent is or what other things you might be tempted to think about.
