Articles
Dealing with Distractions
We have so many advantages today that they can cause sensory overload, such as the new ways to communicate instantly that can detach us from the people we’re “talking” to.
Our world offers so many possibilities. All of them can be good, but they can also become distractions. Here is an example: sea turtle eggs. Female sea turtles swim to shore between May and August to dig nests in the sand and lay their eggs. Months later, the eggs hatch and the baby turtles follow the pure light of the moon back to the surf.
In a perfect world, the pure light of the moon guides every turtle back safely to the ocean.
However, as we know, we don’t live in a perfect world.
Sea turtle hatchlings instinctively crawl toward the brightest light. On a quiet beach, the brightest light is the moon. On a developed beach, though, the brightest light might come from a restaurant, home, or condominium.
Unfortunately, these powerful artificial sources of light often attract the hatchlings and cause them to move in the wrong direction when they are born.
Rather than follow the pure light of the moon to the ocean the sea turtles follow the wrong light to a disastrous outcome.
Are we distracted by so many lights we are desensitized to the One True Light? Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” Satan doesn’t just try to seduce us into some grievous sin; if he can distract us from the True Light, he accomplishes the same thing.
In a perfect world, the pure light of Jesus would shine and we would not be distracted. But we do not live in a perfect world. We must have the desire and the eye to discriminate between distracting lights and the pure, attracting light of Jesus.
People walk in the broad way because they are not following the One True Light. As a result, people do not distinguish between the One True Light and the distractions. The artificial light, bright and shiny when you stare at it, sabotages the journey.
Unlike sea turtles, we can think, adapt, and change our direction when we realize we’re walking after the wrong light. When we follow the One True Light, there’s an ocean of possibilities open to us.
