The other day, I saw an article in the newspaper. It spoke about a family that decided to remove, from their lives for six months, all the electronic distractions in their homes. Think about it. No TV, I-pod, Wii, Game-Boy, cell phone, texting, computer, internet. They discovered the beauty of family chat, board games, eating together, exercising together, discussing real-life situations not virtual ones. In short they re-discovered family life. Life as it was intended. This experiment was so successful, that one sold his Game-Boy, after re-discovering his saxophone. He enrolled in college to major in music.

All this noise, this distraction around us, is it really necessary? Try something, right now. Close your eyes and rest your head on Jesus’ chest. Ask him to put his arms around you. Remain there like that for a short while. Sense the calm. Feel the tension melt away. Gently ask his help with those things that bother you. Don’t allow “those things” to make you tense while talking with him. Remain in that position waiting for his words to enter your thoughts, your heart. Do it now, we’ll wait…
This calm, this lack of tension, this being at peace is, I believe, what Heaven is all about. Only, union with God can make us calm, joyous, peaceful and loving.

After this period of meditation and contemplation, we will have to resume our normal lives, once again. But if we do this form of peaceful reflection often enough, we can grow to like it so much, that our normal lives can and will be affected. We will become aware of all the distractions that we allow in our lives. Most of these distractions are simply “white noise”. They blur our minds to the point where we don’t have to think. We don’t reflect on what is wrong with our lives, we just allow the noise to take over.

If these inventions were present 2,000 years ago, can you see Jesus texting? Can you see him playing Nintendo, or Wii, or Game-Boy? Would He spend countless hours on the internet, idly going from topic to topic? How about having an I-Pod head set on? Jesus was not a person seeking out, or in need of distractions. He had a purpose in His lifetime. His love for us demanded of Him a life and death aimed at us, for our benefit. It seems quite sad that we, in turn, seek out distractions, any distractions, just so we don’t have to think of what we could do, of what we need to do with our lives, of what our purpose in life demands. How important are these distractions to you? Close your eyes and rest your head on Jesus, again. Then answer that question. What is your purpose?