One of my mentors in spiritual formation was Gerald May, (Jerry) author of "Addiction and Grace".    Jerry had much to say about the power exerted by whatever it is in our life that has our full attention.  In fact, he said, whatever we are attending to in any given moment is, in fact, for that moment, our God.

He used the example of standing next to your broken down car and letting the thoughts of frustration and anger generated by the breakdown saturate your mind.  For that instant, your broken down car has ultimate authority over your thoughts and actions.  It has become your God.  Consider how the situation changes, though, when you take just a moment to focus upon God's desire to be with you, even in such a mundane situation, and empower you to move through the challenge with grace.  Jerry's point was that focusing upon the car imprisons the soul and can magnify everything that separates us from God.  Focusing upon the car stimulates negative emotions, and when assistance does arrive (consider the wait for the tow truck) the conversation is likely to be a bit pithy, at best.  The "God of the car" (a false God) has, for that time, taken hold of the way that we are, limiting our capacity to offer anything peaceful, gentle and loving to any other human being we meet (including ourselves!)

 He asked us to think about how different the entire experience would be if, in the time of waiting, we prayed.  What would it be like if our focus during the entire time was God's lavish grace, given freely every moment.....even the moments that are dark?

For some reason, Jerry's example of the car came to my mind as I read today's lesson about King Josiah, who purged the temple of anything that was distracting the population from the one and only true God.  I think, too, of the pile of stuff that would appear from most households (most of all mine!) if every unnecessary or distracting thing was purged.

Sometimes finding God amongst all of the distracting thoughts and preoccupations is like the "Where's Waldo?" activity I used to play with my kids.  There was this cartoon figure, Waldo, embedded in a picture filled with all sorts of people and activities.  

The game was to race to find Waldo in the chaos.  

Well, that is how it is with seeking God in the midst of life, sometimes.  The good news, however, is this:  The God given to us in Christ never stops calling to us, attracting us, guiding us through all the stuff of every situation so that we actually can nestle right into God very, very quickly!