Living Into Focus: Choosing What Matters in an Age of Distractions

by Arthur Boers

In today's high-speed culture, there's a prevailing sense that we are busier than ever before and that the pace of life is too rushed. Most of us can relate to the feeling of having too much to do and not enough time for the people and things we value most. We feel fragmented, overwhelmed by busyness and the tyranny of gadgets.

Veteran pastor and teacher Arthur Boers offers a critical look at the isolating effects of modern life that have eroded the centralizing, focusing activities that people used to do together. He suggests ways to make our lives healthier and more rewarding by presenting specific individual and communal practices that help us focus on what really matters. These practices--such as shared meals, gardening, hospitality, walking, prayer, and reading aloud--bring our lives into focus and build community. The book includes questions for discernment and application and a foreword by Eugene H. Peterson.

Genres: Nonfiction, Christian, Spirituality, Christian Living, Technology, Theology, Productivity

250 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Arthur Paul Boers holds the R. J. Bernardo Family Chair of Leadership at Tyndale Seminary (Toronto, Canada). He is an ordained Mennonite minister and Benedictine oblate. He served for over sixteen years as a pastor in rural, urban, and church-planting settings in the USA and Canada.

Boers is an author. His newest book is Living into Focus: Choosing What Matters in an Age of Distractions. (Brazos, 2012). His other books are The Way is Made by Walking: A Pilgrimage Along the Camino de Santiago (InterVarsity, 2007) The Rhythm of Gods Grace (Paraclete, 2003); Never Call Them Jerks: Healthy Responses to Difficult Behavior (Alban, 1999); Lord, Teach Us to Pray: A New Look at the Lord's Prayer (Herald, 1992); Justice that Heals: A Biblical Vision for Victims and Offenders (Faith and Life, 1992); On Earth as in Heaven: Justice Rooted in Spirituality (Herald, 1991); He is co-editor of Take Our Moments and Our Days: An Anabaptist Prayer Book (Herald, 2007).

Boers earned the following degrees: D. Min. with distinction in worship and spirituality (Northern Baptist Theological Seminary), M. Th. in Pastoral Counseling (Waterloo Lutheran Seminary), M. Div. (McCormick Theological Seminary), M.A. in Peace Studies (Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary), B.A. (University of Western Ontario). He is Book Review Editor for Conrad Grebel Review. For many years he served as columnist and editorial advisor for Christian Ministry, The Builder and as contributing editor to The Other Side. His articles and reviews have been published in Biblical Preaching Journal, Catholic New Times, Christian Century, Christianity Today, Congregations, Leadership, St. Anthony Messenger, and Sojourners.

Hobbies include hiking, canoeing, kayaking, and windsurfing. In 2005, he walked the 500 mile pilgrimage route, the Camino de Santiago in Spain, the experience which formed the basis for his newest book. He is also an Indiana Master Naturalist. Boers is a Canadian, the oldest son of Dutch immigrants. He is married to Lorna McDougall, a nurse practioner. They are the parents of two young adult children."

Reviews

[Susan Crowley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to bold and say this is probably my favourite all time book. All about intentional living and being wise with technology so it enhances and doesn't impoverish your life. I read it once a year to remind myself of key ideas.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book that has been convicting in the best way, reminding me that my life is being shaped by what I focus on and pay attention to. And that I often give my attention to lesser things, things that are contrary to my values and are counterproductive to my well-being. I'm inspired to lean more into focal practices, "activities that center, balance, focus, and orient one's life", like praying, cooking, walking, birding, playing instruments, and eating with others. I want to be someone who fights against distraction, for myself and those I love, and is able to take "long, leisurely, loving looks" at reality (McNamara), of which I can't control. I appreciated how Boers wants us to focus less on the practical boundaries that should be put in place and more on what invigorates "those centers in our lives that engage our place, our time, and the people around us."

These last lines of the last chapter provide a good book summary and is something I can identify with: “Focal priorities not only center our lives but also encourage us to make choices that reinforce those commitments. They are a counterweight, a counterforce, a counterbalance to all other options. I know that I am more content, more fruitful in my labor, and a better friend and family person when I observe a life that has sufficient prayer, reading, exercise, social engagement, and outdoor time.”

[Cherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

the topic of this book is close to my heart and one i'm really wrestling with. that's why i was excited to delve into it. but i was a bit disappointed after i've read it. boers has wisdom to share. it's just that in many instances, this book reads like an academic paper. i can't remember much of the stuff that had been discussed because it felt like a class where i've been asleep half of the time. nevertheless, this doesn't make the conversation about how we allow technology to affect our lives any less important. so give this one a try. might read it again next year.

[Terri Mensch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book feeds into the Integrity of Life group that I am in at church. It has much to think on. I especially like the idea of making the easy choices (tv, facebook, computer games) harder and the harder but ultimately more fulfilling choices easier (quilting, running, photography, etc). Because on my list of things I love to do, tv and facebook are NOT in the top 10. Especially since facebook has become what e-mail used to be...Seems like all I see in my "newsfeed" is "forwarded" jokes in the form of "photos," links to news stories, stuff other people have said or done.

[Maka Mensch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book feeds into the Integrity of Life group that I am in at church. It has much to think on. I especially like the idea of making the easy choices (tv, facebook, computer games) harder and the harder but ultimately more fulfilling choices easier (quilting, running, photography, etc). Because on my list of things I love to do, tv and facebook are NOT in the top 10. Especially since facebook has become what e-mail used to be...Seems like all I see in my "newsfeed" is "forwarded" jokes in the form of "photos," links to news stories, stuff other people have said or done.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book feeds into the Integrity of Life group that I am in at church. It has much to think on. I especially like the idea of making the easy choices (tv, facebook, computer games) harder and the harder but ultimately more fulfilling choices easier (quilting, running, photography, etc). Because on my list of things I love to do, tv and facebook are NOT in the top 10. Especially since facebook has become what e-mail used to be...Seems like all I see in my "newsfeed" is "forwarded" jokes in the form of "photos," links to news stories, stuff other people have said or done.

[Kaya ✨]

DNF at 15 percent.

The incessant rambling on random topics going on here is reminding me way too much of Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport. Like Newport, I think Boers has some good stuff to say, but he can’t seem to spit it out without going off on some completely unrelated side tangent and putting me to sleep in the process.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very well written book. I enjoyed reading it very much. It’s full of cool stories and a lot of things to think about. Highly recommend it.

[Jessica Geist · Rating 4 out of 5]

The research and cultural analysis was insightful, and I don't disagree with his conclusions. Though he said he was trying not to adopt the tone, the tone was at times curmudgeonly.

[Vanessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This isn’t anti-tech, it’s about the various foci available to us in life.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even when this book slips a little into journalistic reporting in the second half, as it offers a barrage of conclusions on our American lack of focus, it is an excellent read. Boers, Mennonite minister and theology professor, wants us to reexamine lives driven by busyness and defined by technology and instead live with purpose and worship. Central to his argument are making philosopher Albert Borgmann's ideas of focal practice (focal practices, focal places, focal things) accessible, so he talks with quilters and gardeners and encourages us to reconsider how we live and interact with other people, with God, with creation and time, and with self. Instead of technological mediation he offers physical presence and attention. Worship and prayer are important, as well as family dinners and woodworking. Boers himself took to walking in his 40s, hiking the 500 mile Bruce Trail in Canada and the Camino in Spain, and walking provides additional examples. He writes with a gentle winsome tone throughout. The second part of the book examines ALERTS - our attention, limits, engagement, relationships, time, and space to provide an excellent inventory of daily life and technology usage and to offer some wise recommendations for other ways of life.

"Those who practice spiritual disciplines over time know that commitment to prayer is a fundamental stance that profoundly challenges the spirit of our age. It calls us to pay attention to realities that are only slowly revealed (rather than easily drawn and capitivated by hyperactive images on both TV and the web). It makes us wait for meaning to emerge and unfold (rather than chase instant solutions). It encourages us to engage in practices that show no immediate benefits (rather than dash from task to task). It invites single-minded attention to the things of God (rather than distracted multitasking). It requires staying still and doing similar practices over and again, even when they seem repetitious (rather than questing unrelenting for the new and dismissively writing of the familiar as 'been there, done that'). Being people of prayer and contemplation, worship and compassion, means that we submit ourselves and make room for ... 'unprogrammed and unprogrammable events.'"

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

My wife picked this up at a lecture by Dr. Boers about a year ago, but I haven't had a chance to read it until this March Break vacation. I decided to read it because I've read Dr. Boer's amusingly titled, Never Call them Jerks, which deals with how to deal with conflict. While the later book is written for churches, I've found its thoughts so helpful that I re-read it every time I know I'm in a contentious meeting.

Living With Focus takes our general state of technological distraction in very much the same helpful tone of Never Call Them Jerks. Dr. Boers examines the manifestations of our technological world which inhibit concentration. He argues that one of the things affected by this distraction is our ability to concentrate on relationships and spirituality. I think he's right, even if I'm currently distracted by writing his review. His view is somewhat predictable in a kind of Wendal Berry-Anabaptist-Neil Postman kind of way, but it is an important critique which doesn't get enough air play these days.

However, what I like about Dr. Boer's approach is that, while he identifies the problem, he looks for workable solutions- what practices will work against the distractions that technology brings with it. Dr. Boers weaves in his own experience and the experience of others in his discussion. Central to his discussion is his development of focal practices- practices which brings us more in relationship with God and others. These practices include hiking, cooking, craftsmanship and much, much more. Instead of a purely negative account, Dr. Boer recommends the cultivation of focal habits as a replacement for the more superficial technology which pervades our life today.

This is well worth the read and has inspired me to look for more focal practices in my life.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly there are many of us struggling to find the heart and center of our lives. Boers encourages readers to find a focal practice - conviviality (sharing the table), walking/hiking, gardening, prayer, or many others -- that challenge and surprise us and open the space to uncontrolled and unexpected deeper connections with one another and the world. Technology that supports, rather than detracts, is a choice. I wished for more of Boers' experiences and less of quoting the experts, particularly in what is a pastoral text. If you've read a lot of books on this topic, much of the material will already have been covered. If you're new to it and want a guide through that literature, Boers' book may be a great help.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about intentional living, and pushing back the intrusions of modern technology. Sort of a Christian approach to Buddhist mindfulness. Boers points out endless ways that technology has altered behaviors in our society, isolating people even as we allegedly become more connected. The tone is a bit solemn and could have benefited from some positive approaches as to why you might want to opt for the focused lifestyle. The most positive argument was getting close to nature.

[Jena Lee Nardella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend this book for anyone who is feeling worn out by the fast-paced pressures of our digital era and wishing to recover a stronger sense of peace and focus. The book encourages us to identify and instill focal practices in our daily lives - being intentional about practices that actually reflect our values and desires in the world.

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for program on the farm. Finding a focus to put matters and faith into perspective. Boers’s challenges the grip that modern technology has on many of us, and to offer in its place the more life-giving grip of the focal practice that allows us to “meet God.”

In a day and time when technology conrols so much of our life, his insights are worth a conversation.

[Paul Dubuc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well balanced and practical. The author helps make us aware of the ill effects of the technology we use without disparaging the benefits. He also helps us find ways to use technology to bolster our priorities instead of letting it determine them.

[Anita Tally · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh..... it's all been said before, and better. There were too many personal stories, and I didn't feel at all inspired by his experiences or his writing. It's an important topic - I really wanted to learn something but this book didn't move me to learn or to change.

[Patrick Schlabs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helpful reminder of the overlooked effects of technology, and very practical thoughts on how to count their cost.

[Janna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reminder of how technology can overtake our time and focus. Very relevant for today. Back to simplicity and focal connectedness.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boers writes about technology and busyness in our world and how to live a focused life that uses technology without it controlling us.

[Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very thought-provoking and helpful book on how Christians do and should relate to the atmosphere of our modern Technopoly.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing....