Have you ever been so distracted that you started forgetting simple things? I remember when I was in graduate school at Penn that I would be so focused on thinking about my latest research that I would sometimes come out of the shower wondering whether or not I had actually washed my hair. My mind had been on autopilot. I really wasn’t sure.

According to the National Institutes of Health, the instances of ADD in the United States has risen from 6.1% in 1997 to a whopping 10.2% in 2016 –the significant increase happening over a mere 10 years.[1] According to a 2021 report in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, 8.7 million adults in the U.S. have ADHD.[2] The count continues to rise.

Is it because we are “paying attention” to the prevalence of ADD in our country today? (Pun intended). Or are we as a nation becoming more and more distracted?

Perhaps the answer to that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that when we are distracted from what’s important to our own well-being and success, essentially, we lose.

Of course, feeling distracted does not mean that all have some level of ADD. We can become distracted (even if temporarily so) for a multitude of reasons. For many of us, stress is the culprit. The more stressed and anxious you are, the more distracted you will be. Even short-term memory issues can be linked to anxiety and stress. 

You can become distracted if you suffer from depression. Those who have experienced depression know what I’m talking about. When you’re in a state of depression, your mind literally will not function properly. Your ability to focus for any length of time –or at all –diminishes. You can’t seem to pay attention to anything, but only resort to random chaotic or disorganized thoughts. You may not be able to actually think much at all. You may obsess over certain things, playing and re-playing things in your mind. Once in that hamster wheel, it’s hard to see beyond it. 

You could suffer from distraction if you are grieving. Grief wreaks havoc on our minds and bodies. Even though we know its effects are temporary, it can be unsettling to discover that you are simply not at the top of your game! You become easily distracted, have difficulty paying attention to things that once mattered, and you feel a deep sense of distress and loss which prevents you from clarity.

Even physical maladies can affect your levels of distraction –anything from vitamin deficiencies to addictions to too much caffeine or sugar!

We are, as it is, fairly easily distractible creatures!

Jesus describes the human state of distraction as a “weighing down” of the heart. Some translations use the word “dulling” but “weighing down” is not only more accurate etymologically but more accurate psychologically!

He tells us that we can get so distracted in our hearts, so weighed down with drunkenness or other addictions, or simply with anxiety or worries of life, that we stop paying attention to God and the state of our souls. And when we fall into that kind of numb-like state, we are susceptible to falling into traps!

“Watch out that the day (of redemption)…..does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap.”

What a great metaphor for not paying attention –as though you are wandering through the woods, not paying attention to your path, where you are putting your feet, and consequently, you could likely and literally fall into a “trap!” And like an animal caught in such a snare, you will find it hard to escape it.

For a “trap,” particularly a “spiritual trap” keeps you from moving forward, from walking your path with God. It keeps you bound to the earth and imminent death. It does not allow you to be lifted up. A trap defies God’s powers of resurrection. It keeps you earth-bound, not able to be spiritually transcendent of your anxiety, your pain, your addictions, or your grief. It will keep you stuck.

When it comes to walking with God, whether in this life or the next, you do not want to be “stuck.”

So what’s the answer? What can we do to keep ourselves from being so distracted that we become “stuck” within our negative belief patterns, our pessimistic attitudes, our grieving hearts, or our anxiety and worry?

Jesus tells us, we must “pay attention!” The word in Greek is agrypneo –to keep awake, keep alert, be vigilant, watch out, keep watchful, pay attention. Pay attention to what?

To the “state” of our souls.

Jesus is not just talking about watching what unfolds around us. He’s talking about what’s happening within us! In fact, you can’t truly comprehend what’s happening around you, if you are not first caring for what’s happening within you!

For remember what happens to your ability to assess, cope, understand, and realize when you’re in that “state of distraction” for whatever the reason may be!

If you want to feel confident in the world, you must first feel confident in yourself. Your heart, your spirit, these must feel light, in tune, and in tandem with God’s spiritual guidance. You must feel focused on God and God’s path for your life, and you must be free of distractions, so that you can walk that path freely and assuredly, no matter what is happening around you.

To do this, you must pointedly and intentionally make time each day to pay attention to the state of your soul, to keep watch that you do not allow yourself to sink into a place of despair and grief. Do not put your trust and your heart’s desires in earthly and material things. But put your faith in Jesus. For he will lift you up!

As we enter into this time of Advent, a time in which we anticipate in our lives the coming of God into the world, we must ask ourselves daily if we are prepared for the changes he will make in our lives and in our hearts. For Advent is not a mere memory, not just the celebration of a time long past. But Advent is the acknowledgement that God is “still speaking to us,” if only we will listen. In the time of Advent, we must “pay attention” to the ways in which God is breaking through time and space, breaking through our distraction, breaking through our world, breaking through our lives in order to make new changes and provide us with new directions.

When we allow our souls to resonate with God’s awesome presence, we will experience the miracle of life that Jesus has promised us –not merely in the world to come, but in our lives today.

God is still speaking. God is still doing miracles. God is still here. All you have to do is “pay attention!”
 

[1] Abdelnour, Jansen, and Gold, “ADHD Diagnostic Trends: Increased Recognition or Overdiagnosis?” Missouri Medicine, https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9616454/#:~:text=The%20past%20couple%20of%20decades,the%20causes%20for%20this%20trend.

[2] Dan Bernardi, “What’s Driving the Rise in ADHD Diagnosis Among Children and Adults?” Health and Society, October 4, 2024, https://news.syr.edu/blog/2024/10/04/whats-driving-the-rise-in-adhd-diagnosis-among-children-and-adults/.