Our ADHD World by Andy McDonald

When we stop changing, we are dead! Our bodies are constantly in a cycle of cell division and replacement. It’s interesting science: how rapidly each type of cell replenishes and the rare ones that don’t. Today we know the epidermis, or surface layer of the skin, is recycled every two weeks or so. The epithelial cells that line the surface of the gut are new every five days, while those in the main body of the gut appear to last 15.9 years prior to replacement. Our very bodies are constantly changing.

Today there is growing evidence that we are experiencing changes in the way our brains function. Research at such places as the Child Health Institute at the University of Washington in Seattle has demonstrated that our increased time in front of active screens (TV, video games, computer, blackberry, ipad, iphone, etc.) are changing the way our brains function. The age-old ability to pick up on nuance and simple human facial expressions seems to be decreasing, and our insatiable need to “get things done” drives us to attempt increased multi-tasking, which seems to be disabling us from a healthy ability to concentrate. In addition, the constant stimulation from these outside sources creates a sense of boredom when the stimulation stops.

There may have never been a more critical time in human history for us to hear and practice, “Be still and know that I AM God.”

I’m guilty. There is much more to accomplish for the optimum health of the branch of the Body of Christ called Hospital Church than I can get done! So I end up multi-tasking. I listen to a lecture while I check my emails or clean up my office. I never drive without using that time to make a call. Even in preparation for a sermon I find myself flitting between reading a book and searching the Internet for facts, figures, or illustrations.

To seek sanity, I have reverted to my “First Thirty” rule. Most days, before I engage in anything else, I make time to just be still. It isn’t easy. I want to make a list, plan my day, and jump to doing – and doing is important. But I’ve found that, without those “First Thirty” minutes, I tend to forget the truth that “It is not by my might or my power” - or by clever technology, or faster processing, or multi-tasking - that God’s work is accomplished in me and in His world. It is by His Spirit that His work is done. (Zechariah 4:6)

I guarantee that today things will change, and probably at a higher speed than yesterday. When we stop changing, we are dead. But in order to manage all that comes to us in our 21^st century world, maybe the wisest way to start our day is to be still and, in that stillness, come to know the God whose character is so perfect as to be changeless. I believe that in our connection to and in our knowing God ,we can better manage our ADHD world and embrace the inevitable change.

So take a mini-Sabbath every morning (or if you’re a night owl, every night), and turn off the TV, put the computer to sleep, silence your phone, lay your ipad face down and stop—be still, and let God remind you that only He is infinite, He is God, and it’s okay for us to be finite.

Here’s my First Thirty plan:

• Find a comfortable place to sit, and use the same place whenever possible.

• 5 minutes just being quiet before God - letting go of worry and concentrating on listening.

• 10 minutes of prayer, writing out your thoughts in prayer to God

• 10 minutes of reading a devotional work or the Bible. (The object isn’t to see how much you can get read but how much of what you read gets in you!)

• 5 minutes memorizing the Bible.

Or just being still and listen for all 30 minutes!

Make your own plan of how you will carve out some “Be Still” time.

Andy McDonald