October 8, 2022

Is Attention Deficit Disorder really a fair way to label a person?  While many children are scolded for not paying enough attention in school or medicated so that they can be like the others, we seldom consider why their focus is withheld in the first place.  Could it be because the lessons are boring?  Or because the personalities are not engaging?  Or because the conversations are not interesting?  Or because the conclusions lack depth?  Indeed, if we allowed these prophets to speak – instead of scapegoating them in order to maintain the status quo – we would stand to learn much about the beauty and complexity of life beyond our comfortable societal parameters.  Perhaps Jesus, who set out on a meandering journey from his hometown to Jerusalem – absorbed in a combination of preaching, teaching and healing all along the way – would be the poster-child for ADD today.  Nevertheless, it is precisely his unwillingness to adhere to a legalistic system that privileged conformity to the law above all else that enabled him to reveal the mystery of it all.  Let’s therefore demand meaning and wonder in our human experience.  Let’s allow our senses to be filled with people, places and things that capture the imagination and remind us of life’s essential goodness.  Let’s make poetry, play and dance our way into eternity.  Ave Crux, Spes Unica!