You can only focus on JUST ONE THING at a time. Some folks think that many things can be focused on at one time and call it multitasking. The truth is that there is only JUST ONE THING. Usually when many things seem to be in one’s mind they are still just really thought of in a sequential manner—switching swiftly from one thing to another, often over and over.
There is a movie film called City Slickers.
Billy Crystal stars as Mitch—a man having his midlife crisis. He had been and still was a big success in business in New York City. He had made a lot of money and was a very cool dude. A friend had asked him, “Why don't you go out to a dude ranch somewhere for a well-deserved vacation.” They both went to the dude ranch.
In the film they wake up the first morning, look out toward the corral and see Curly hanging on the fence. (Curly was played by Jack Palance, a character that was a mix of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood and Billy-The Kid. Jack was Ukrainian with a real name of Volodymr Ivanovich Palaniuk. The Russian equivalent is Vladimir; you may know it. These names mean “World Peace”.) He is a caricature of a Western Cowboy and accordingly was wearing a big black hat. Mitch and his friend walk up to Curly who is looking inscrutably at the distant horizon.
Mitch says to Curly, “How are you doing today, Curly? Have you used your pistol yet?” Curly says, “Nope, it’s still early.” Curly indicates that he knows what Mitch is looking for. Curly says, “You know... there's JUST ONE THING.” Mitch has no idea what Curly is talking about. Maybe Curly's just being friendly. Curly says, “You decide what the one thing is.” You decide, “You don't sit around waiting for God to tell you what to do. That's backwards. You decide what you're gonna do.”
Some thoughts about JUST ONE THING.
The principle of JUST ONE THING is free will personified. God is not going to be changed by your prayers. You don't change God. Your prayers change you. Formulate your prayers as though you are happy that the desired result has already been fulfilled. Act like the privileged friend and child of God that you are.
Spend time in silence. Be uninterrupted. Don’t expect or anticipate seeing fireworks or getting a presentation in words. What you will receive is just suddenly knowing about something. You simply know that you know. This experience is known as direct knowing. Some people call it a hunch. That is it—JUST ONE THING. Its for you to know and act upon (if you wish). Accept the hunch. Take it seriously. Love your hunches.
Now that you know to focus on JUST ONE THING. Do not distract yourself by wondering “WHAT ELSE”. Don't get the idea there's more than JUST ONE THING. If this seems difficult and you don't know what to do next, just simply focus on JUST ONE THING. Of course, the “next” JUST ONE THING is also up to you. At Unity of Charlotte, we have a “code word” for it, we call it “Oneness”.
11/03/24