Welcoming Distractions

Seeing red herrings of distraction as part of God’s providence

05/17/2018

Acts of the Apostles 22:30; 23:6-11 Wishing to determine the truth about why Paul was being accused by the Jews, the commander freed him and ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to convene. Then he brought Paul down and made him stand before them. Paul was aware that some were Sadducees and some Pharisees, so he called out before the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees; I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead." When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the group became divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection or angels or spirits, while the Pharisees acknowledge all three. A great uproar occurred, and some scribes belonging to the Pharisee party stood up and sharply argued, "We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" The dispute was so serious that the commander, afraid that Paul would be torn to pieces by them, ordered his troops to go down and rescue Paul from their midst and take him into the compound.

Much of our modern life is spent battling distractions. We find it hard to focus on one task because we’re pulled in a hundred different directions. For example, rarely have we gotten through an entire Mass without someone’s cell phone ringing and distracting us from Jesus. The reason why I get up at 4:30 in the morning to write homilies is because you are all asleep and won’t text or call me. We wish we could be like Henry David Thoreau, the American transcendental philosopher, who spent a year at Walden Pond, in order to live deliberately and less distractedly. We’d all like to transcend our distractions.

But when I was studying canon law, I learned that not all distractions have to be annoying or avoided; some can be used artfully and achieve great good. Have you ever heard of a legal distraction called the “red herring”? It’s not literally a fish but rather a legal technique used to distract the judge or jury from the main point of the argument. Some parents use red herrings all the time with their feuding families. One mother was tired of hearing her small children fighting and yelling the backseat of the car so she pointed out the side window and shouted: “Look, deer!” All the children immediately stopped to look. Even though there were no deer, the children were distracted enough to stop fighting, and even forgot the original argument. The family drove off in peace. Some distractions can be useful and help us get our focus back on track.

St. Paul uses a legal distraction – a red herring – in the Acts of the Apostles. He is on trial being judged by the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Knowing the two religious sects vehemently disagreed on the question of the resurrection of the dead, Paul shrewdly says: “My brother, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees; I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.” When he said that, a huge argument erupted between the two groups and Paul was rescued from their midst. Paul was basically shouting like that mother chauffeuring the care of crazy kids, “Look, deer!” but in this case, “Look, the resurrection of the dead!” Paul successfully distracted the Jewish leaders from Paul’s own case. Paul used a legal distraction – a red herring – deliberately to achieve a great good, namely, his escape. Not all distractions are bad.

My friends, may I suggest to you how you can start to see distractions as helpful instead of harmful?  When people tell me they are distracted at prayer – while reciting the rosary, for example – I tell them to make the distraction the content of their contemplation. Tell God what you are distracted by and invite the distraction to be part of your prayer. Some parents see their children’s need for attention as an annoying distraction, but wise parents see such moments as golden opportunities to teach life lessons and spend precious time together. We may think an illness or a car accident or a financial set-back or marriage disputes are so many distractions from the tranquil life we are trying to live. But maybe they are not accidental at all, but as C.S. Lewis said, “the megaphones God uses to rouse a dead world.” God finally gets our full attention through so-called distractions. Man uses distractions to lead us away from the main point, but God uses them to bring us back to the main point, namely, his enduring love for us.

If we could reach the heights of holiness of the saints, we would realize that every moment is under the microscope of God’s perfect providence. There never were anything called “distractions” at all from his point of view, but all time and space is lovingly and wisely, slowly and gently, being orchestrated towards its final fulfillment in Christ. That’s why at the Easter Vigil Mass, the priest blessed the burning Easter Candle dispelling the darkness (and all distractions), saying: “Christ yesterday and today, the beginning and the end, Alpha and Omega, all time belongs to him, and all ages; to him be glory and power, through every age and forever. Amen.” In God there is no darkness or distractions (or red herrings), but only light and truth.

Praised be Jesus Christ!