Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most. Mind over matter. There are many more sayings that mention the mind, but I should probably move on to what I’m thinking about before it slips my mind.

I don’t do very well at multitasking. I do better if I concentrate on one thing at a time. Usually, my brain forces me to do that anyway. Otherwise, I will begin mixing the thoughts together, and I make less sense than usual. However, with all of the media we have access to today, the concept of multitasking is being forced on us. At least, that’s my opinion.

As an example, when I was in elementary school, I could really get lost in a book. I would be oblivious to what was going on around me, which caused trouble when my parents were trying to get my attention. I’ve noticed that I am missing that level of focus. Noises around me keep me from getting totally submerged in all but a few books I read. For that matter, even concentrating on typing this is not the only thing making laps inside my head right now.

I understand some of trying to do more than one thing at a time. This makes perfect sense when fixing a meal; you have to be cooking the dishes at the proper time so that they are all done together. You can’t serve cold mashed potatoes with the roast. But I maintain we’ve either carried multitasking too far, or have sat idle while other have. Let’s look at a few examples.

During church, what all goes through your mind. I can tell you about mine. I used to think about lunch, though that has calmed down. There are the thoughts about what so and so is doing on the other side of the sanctuary. What someone else is doing doesn’t really affect me, but that doesn’t stop me from losing focus on the worship. There are times that even though what my mind wanders to is valid, it isn’t the right time. I handle the projection system at church. With the sermon, we generally have notes showing on the screen. I will often look ahead at what is coming next. Though this helps me be ready, it can also distract me from what is being said.

Then there is reading the Bible. I’ve already said that I don’t focus as well as I used to, and that is evident when I read the Bible. I use an illustrated study Bible, and pictures catch my eye fairly easily. So, despite the fact those pictures are there to help, I can lose focus on the words, which are infinitely more important.

Even if you don’t have a rampaging thought process, being bombarded with ads and marketing is an everyday occurrence. Seeing an ad for a new burger isn’t the bad thing. The bad thing is when that burger takes our focus away from God. (Side note, random thought, etc: putting a side of beef in place of God didn’t work well for the Israelites at Sinai, I don’t think we need to try it either. That may sound harsh or insensitive, but that was not my intention.)