Does Anyone Really Listen to You? Do you to them?

Proverbs 4:25

The Voice (VOICE)

²⁵ Keep your head up, your eyes straight ahead,
    and your focus fixed on what is in front of you.

Grandpa never learned to drive. He told me on more than one occasion, “No man can do more than one thing at a time. If I were to drive, I would have to put my hand out the window to signal a turn, while turn the steering wheel and shifting the gears with my other hand, push down the clutch with one foot, and either pushing the brake pedal or the gas pedal with the other foot, all at the same time. No, no man can do more than one thing at a time, so I haven’t learned to drive.”

He was a very successful businessman, and after he retired at about age 55, he founded a school amidst the ignorant hillbillies living in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains in eastern Oklahoma. My Grandma, whom I never met, was the one who drove the car. She was principal of the boarding school. From donations Grandpa solicited they provided for all of the needs of the students at Ozark Mountain School (OMS), including room, food, clothing, books and medical treatments.

He lived with us from the time I was six until his death six years later. Whenever I went into his room, he would turn to me and give me 100% of his attention. Never did I get the impression that he was thinking about other things while I was there. He corresponded with many people including family and former contributors to OMS. But when I was there, the letters were put aside and not so much as looked at until I left.

He studied his Bible diligently, not only the Sabbath School lesson, but also the various topics that interested him. When I developed a consuming interest in astronomy, he warned me that there is no benefit in studying the stars. One day I brought home an old book entitled Astronomy and the Bible by Lucas A. Reed (published in 1919 by the Pacific Press. Reed was president of the Pacific Union College from 1906 to 1908.) Grandpa came into my room and saw me reading the book. He asked to borrow it, read it from cover to cover, and developed an interest in astronomy that surpassed mine. After that I had to compete with him at the local college library for astronomy books.

Lord, in this time of my life, when I’m so easily distracted that I often forget what I came looking for, help me to keep my focus fixed on what is important.