From the Dentist Office

I found myself in the dentist office for a few hours last month for the placement of a crown on a tooth.   Though my dentist and his staff are great people,  I always approach time in the dentist chair with a bit of anxiety.   It requires a good bit of time to fix a crown on a person’s tooth.  Before placing the crown, they had to numb my mouth, do x-rays on the tooth, and drill into the tooth.  During the procedure,  I had a gag reflex overcome me a couple of times.   That was particularly true when they were doing the x-rays.  The dental assistant had a suggestion for me to overcome the gag reflex, and it was this:   lift up my left or right leg when they begin to do the x-rays.   Following that tip, I did the same and found myself not experiencing any gag reflex at all.   The point in lifting a leg was this:  by focusing on lifting my leg,  I would forget about the x-ray film in my mouth and the x-ray taking place on my mouth.  

That experience of lifting my leg  in the dentist chair got me to thinking about focus.   I was so busy focusing on lifting my leg as they did dental x-rays that I did not think about what was going on with the x-ray film filling my mouth.     Sometimes, I think we humans focus on the wrong thing.     Jesus tells a parable that we read in Luke 10:

³⁰ In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. ³¹ A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. ³² So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. ³³ But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. ³⁴ He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. ³⁵ The next day he took out two denarii^[c] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’  ³⁶ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”  ³⁷ The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”   Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

The priest and levite are on their way to Jerusalem to do a good thing:  to worship the Lord and do their religious duty.   Yet, they are so busy focusing on their church work that they are blind to the opportunity to do the real work of the church right there on the Jerusalem to Jericho road.  What will have your focus on this day in this life?   Have a joy-filled week.-  Pastor Randy Wall

Prayer:    O God,  give us eyes to focus on the things that most important around us.  Help us see the opportunity to serve you; through Christ our Lord. Amen.