Distractions

I was with my family in Chicago this last weekend and we visited the Shedd Aquarium. I would recommend the trip for anyone for you can see a variety of exotic and un-exotic (is that a word?) fish including sharks, dolphins, tuna, flounder, etc.
The moment that amused me was one early on in the visit. I was standing next to a huge tank filled with a small hammerhead shark, a large tuna--just a large number of fish that you would expect to find in the ocean. People were standing, observing the fish in their natural habitat. Then from the top of the tank enter two fins. All looked up to see the figure of a homo sapien (human, for all of you in Cumberland, MD), dive into the tank. He then took a rag and began cleaning the side of the large aquarium. At which point, people gathered excitedly and began taking pictures. Does anyone see anything weird in all of this?
Here were all of these wonderful fish swimming gracefully in their natural habitat and we (humans) took pictures of another human swimming in an unnatural habitat doing a maintenance job. What's wrong with this picture? We are so easily distracted.
Charles Swindoll tells a wonderful story in his book Laugh Again. A lady's husband dies and she decides to buy a pet to keep her company. The pet store owner sells her a parrot that he insists is a real talker. I'll let him pick it up from here.
"Does it talk?"
"Absolutely. . .a real chatterbox. Everybody who comes in the store is astounded by this parrot's friendly dispostion and wide vocabulary. That's why it's so expensive."
"Sold!" She bought the expensive parrot and hauled it home in a large, elegant cage. At last she had a companion she could talk to, who could answer back. Perfect!
But there was a problem. A full week passed without the bird's saying one word. Beginning to worry, she dropped by the pet shop.
"How's the parrot doing? Quite a talker, huh?"
"Not one word. I haven't been able to get a sound out of that bird. I'm worried!"
"Well, did you buy a mirror when you got the parrot and the cage last week?"
"Mirror? No. There's no mirror in the cage."
"That's your problem. A parrot needs a mirror. It's funny, but while looking at itself, a parrot starts to feel comfortable. In no time it will begin to talk." So she bought the mirror and put it into the cage.
Time passed, still nothing. Each day the woman talked to the bird, but not a peep came out of its beak. For hours on end she would talk as the parrot stared in silence. Another week passed without a word. By now she was really getting worried.
"The parrot isn't talking," she told the pet store owner. "I'm worried. All that money, the mirror--and still nothing."
"Say, did you buy a ladder when you got the cage?"
"A ladder? No. I didn't know it needed a ladder. Will that make it talk?"
"Works like a charm. The parrot will look in the mirror and get a little exercise, climbing up and down this ladder several times. Before long you won't believe what you hear. Trust me, you need the ladder."
She bought the ladder and put it into the cage next to the mirror. . .and waited. Another seven, eight days, still nothing. By now her worry was approaching the panic stage. "Why doesn't it talk?" That was all she could think about. She returned to the store in tears. . .with the same complaint.
"Did you buy a swing?"
"A swing! No. I have the cage, a mirror, and a ladder--I thought I had everything. I had no idea I needed a swing."
"Ya gotta have a swing. A parrot needs to feel completely at home. It glances in the mirror, takes a stroll up and down the ladder, and before long it's on the swing enjoying itself--and bingo! I've found that parrots usually talk when they are perched on a swing."
The woman bought the swing. She attached it to the top of the cage near the ladder and coaxed the parrot up the ladder and onto the swing. Stilll, absolute silence. For another ten days not one sound came from the cage.
Suddenly she came bursting into the pet store, really steaming. The owner met her at the counter.
"Hey, how's the parrot? I'll bet--"
"It died! My expensive bird is dead in the bottom of the cage."
"Well, I can't believe that. I'm just shocked. Did it ever say anything at all?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, it did. As it lay there taking its last few breaths, it said very faintly, 'Don't they have any food down at that store?'"
Isn't that just like us? We get distracted so easily. Like the human in the fish tank, we missed what was really going on. Paul said it a couple of times. In Hebrews, he said for us to "fix our eyes on Jesus." In II Corinthians 4 Paul said, "So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen." Fixing our eyes. Not being distracted. I believe that's the same thing Paul is saying in Philippians when we tells us to forget the things in the past and press on. He's basically saying for us not to be distracted.
What's distracting you? Don't look at the human cleaning the windows. See God's enduring beauty in everything. Have a great day. JW