In the summer of 1984 I had the unique privilege of traveling the country with a group of college students. We presented a dramatic musical on the life of the blind hymn-writer, Francis Jane Crosby. During that summer we travelled thousands of miles in 2 RVs and 2 vans, each equipped with CB radios. Our caravan was typically led by one of the vans, followed by the 2 RVs with the last van pulling up the rear. That particular day was beautiful and clear. The first sign that something was wrong came when the CB crackled to life with words we couldn’t understand but with a fear and adrenaline that was undeniable. It turns out that the driver in the last van had dropped a Gummi bear. When he reached down to pick it up, he unintentionally pulled the steering wheel to the right and drove the van off the interstate, through a ditch, up an embankment, back across the ditch, between two guard rails and jumped back onto the interstate – all with the cruise set on 65! That day we were all thankful! The outcome could have been very different. The course of so many lives could have been radically changed.
You don’t have to read the headlines to know that life is full of distractions. Everyday we hear about someone who got distracted, just for a moment. Sometimes those distractions can be inconvenient and sometimes they can be life-changing. My friend Michael Hyatt tells a story about how he and his wife Gail went snorkeling in Hawaii. They got in the water early one morning and were immediately captivated by the beauty of the coral reef below them. A few hours past before they looked up to realize that the rip current had pulled them far from the shore. After almost an hour of “hard swimming” they made it back to the safety of the beach, exhausted. Mike says they didn’t snorkel anymore that vacation!
The truth is, distractions can be as big and beautiful as a coral reef or as small and chewy as a Gummi bear. But the consequences for both can cost us everything.
What’s distracting you?
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