When I was a young seminarian, I had a “pastoral trauma” when I asked one of the priests in my community if he could possibly bless the new car of a friend who was passing by. In a very curt way, the priest said, “I have so much work in the office. I can’t be blessing cars upon request.”
I was taken aback by his response. I just kept quiet, but I thought to myself, “Ang sungit naman nitong paring ’to (This priest is cranky)!”
Years later I somehow understood and saw the wisdom in his response—not the crankiness, though—which is the great value, the needed grace to be very focused on one’s work and mission, the thing God wants you to do to make this world a better place.
This Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 9: 51-62) gives a very sharp focus on the mission, “follow me.” We see this in the three examples Christ narrates. In plain and simple language, a disciple’s only business is to follow Christ.
Focus is what the opening lines of the Sunday Gospel set as the one quality of Christ as he makes his way to Jerusalem, the city of destiny where he was to fulfill his mission.
“He was determined to go to Jerusalem… ” as the Gospel today tells us, or in the Old Testament prophecy of this moment, “He set his face like flint…” This showed Christ’s determination and focus on the mission to be accomplished.
Focus is the term we often hear now, but in more elegant or eloquent language—for lack of better terms to describe it—we can also call it single-mindedness or single-heartedness. But let’s stick to focus.
Let us look at three examples of how focus is applied, and then draw our points for reflection.
The most common is the focus needed in sports. This is most true for athletes, but equally important for coaches. When I was still active in the Ateneo de Manila basketball program, we constantly emphasized this to the players.
Outlet
I remember one instance when the team was just about to break into the finals—after close to a decade of being in the bottom half of the rankings and another couple of years of making it to the final four—a fight erupted between two stalwarts in the team during practice. It took four or five teammates to hold one from hurting the other player.
The coach discussed the incident with me later that evening. In his great wisdom, he pointed out that when one is so intensely focused on a goal trying to do one’s best, the intensity of the focusing often has to have an outlet. The fight during practice was one such outlet.
This shows how powerful focusing is—how it generates so much energy and power, and as this intensifies, how more focus is needed to direct it properly.
It is interesting how, in sports, one works hard on the various elements—the basics, the conditioning, the drills, the plays, etc. Each time, one has to have a specific focus to achieve the goals for each element.
Then, as one steps on the court or field for the actual competition, one focuses again on the overall goal in order to do one’s best and win. It is this focus that blends all the elements together.
Flow
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, in his book “Flow” (which I cited in a July 2011 reflection), refers to an optimal experience as the flow in one’s life. He refers to the meaning or purpose or mission in one’s life that gives it order, and is the final stage before attaining the flow.
This is the flow that comes from an athlete’s focus at the moment of competition—all the exercises, training, drills, etc. come together into one smooth flow. He is at his best at this moment and this is the moment of champions.
The second example of focus is that of a musician. It is a focus that aims to capture the rhythm of the music and as one flows with the rhythm one knows exactly when to come in and how to blend with the music.
Such a focus is a prime example of being sensitive to others. I work with two musicians who are both excellent at what they do. One is a pianist and the other is a vocalist. Seeing them perform or practice is quite an experience.
The tremendous focus when they perform together is amazing. One could see how they naturally sense each other and how each one moves in synch, in rhythm with the other.
More than this, it is the focus on the music, the piece—its notes and lyrics—that make them a delight to watch and listen to. But above all, it is the focus on the soul of the song that allows the musicians to bring out its power and message.
One time, I was telling these two musicians a story about Ella Fitzgerald. In one of her concerts in Berlin which was recorded live, she sang “Mack the Knife.” At a certain point while singing it, she forgot the lyrics.
Enthralled
She was so focused, though, and she went along with the rhythm, improvising and, without missing a beat, she sang, “What’s the next line to this song now, I don’t know. Ella, Ella and the fellas… ” She went on and on until she got to the part where she knew the lines again.
What was also interesting about it was how the crowd enjoyed the improvisation and how they, too, went with the flow. I would like to think that this is an example of how Ella Fitzgerald’s focus translated into her not just going with the rhythm of the song, but also leading or bringing along the crowd with her. She had them enthralled, as we would say, or as the Gospels described the crowds listening to Christ, they were “spellbound.”
Another example of focus, to add another perspective, is in the orchestra. There is an instrument that we often hear only at the end of a piece—a drum called the timpani. This is the drum that looks like a huge kettle. It plays only the last few notes of the piece, yet without it, you lessen—if not deaden— the drama of the ending of a piece.
In 1993 I had the chance of a lifetime to watch the New York Philharmonic in concert. I was fascinated by the musicians who played the timpani. All throughout the piece, they had very edifying focus. You knew that they were not coming into the picture until the very end, yet they were fully attentive and focused from start to finish.
I thought, as I watched them play their notes, that the entire moment of waiting—with full attention, completely focused—prepared them to play their part with great intensity, which is the nature of their instrument and part in the orchestra.
Standard
The intensity of their role most certainly requires total attention and focus all throughout the playing of the piece, so that when their moment comes, they play excellently.
Christ makes this demand on the three disciples who wanted to follow him. Perhaps more than a demand, it is really a standard set for a follower of Christ: “The Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head… Let the dead bury their dead. But you go and proclaim the Kingdom of God… No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks at what is left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9: 58b, 60, 62)
Ignatius of Loyola had an apt term for this: “totus ad laborem,” to give one’s self totally to the work, the mission of God for you; giving one’s self totally to the work, the mission at hand.
There is a Filipino saying that captures this spirit and the grace of focus: “Kung ayaw, maraming dahilan. Kung gusto, maraming paraan.” (If one is not committed, there are many excuses. If one is committed, there are many ways).
This is the invitation to us this Sunday, to give our self totally to the work Christ calls us to. All works for Christ and all missions from God are ways of following Christ. The fundamental invitation is to follow Christ— Christ on mission.
This following of Christ is rooted and grounded in love, his love for us and our love for him. This is the only thing that matters. This is the only focus we must have in our life.
Like an athlete, we must focus to live this out in the day-to- day, in the drills, the exercises, the plays that make us live love in the small things, in the ordinary things. This way, when “game time” comes, when the moment of champions is upon us, we are able to love and love greatly and intensely. It comes with daily focus and practice.
Like a musician, we go with the rhythm of a life of love and mission. We build on the notes and lyrics of the song of life, through a life that flows with the growth of service, being persons for others; the deepening of our spirituality, being persons of prayer and reflection.
Only then do we become persons with an intense passion for mission. We hit the right notes and contribute to the work when we need to play our part in the mission. We give and give rightly and in a timely manner.
“Come, follow me.” The only thing that matters is Christ. “To follow him more nearly,” as Ignatius of Loyola says, and “totus ad laborem.”