Dear Editor,

Mr. Barlow, I appreciate the guts it takes to draw a line in the sand and stand on one side. Clarity runs the risk of insult because it creates polarization, and people passionately pick sides.

Wisdom sees both sides of a matter. Foolishness only one.

I do not know what ignited Mr. Lewis to fervently follow God. Maybe God miraculously healed his mother of cancer or delivered him from an addiction or rescued him out of a life of crime? When somebody excessively celebrates and quickly removes the focus from themselves and credits another, is their motive selfish?

Too many people are being mentored by failures. Celebrities, sports heroes, music artists, reality TV, magazines, many of who are selfish, immature, ignorant and morally broken. Followers envy their lives because its portrayed they are happy and fulfilled... when in most cases they look pretty on the outside, but inside they are a mess and miserable and relationally challenged.

Lewis focuses on something larger than himself. And focus produces a force to be reckoned with.

Focus pushes winners past where losers quit. Headstrong people are not focused. They lack the education or experience to be persuaded. Stubborn people are not focused. Stubbornness is difficult to move, remove, or cure. Focus creates intensity. A oneness towards achieving the goal. What are you willing to die for?

Focus is endurance. When you fail, focus picks you up, dusts you off and starts you running towards the bullets again. We keep teaching young people what to think, instead of how to think. Then we act surprised when the first little obstacle stunts them. We need more mentors to teach and show the next generation its not about what the world can do for you, but what you can do for the world. And believe that impossible is possible.

Focus is not accomplished by the distracted masses, but by the purposeful few. There will always be a surplus of people eager to criticize, nitpick or play it safe, but they never changed anything.

I’m not raising my kids to survive in the world, but to change it. Make a dent in the universe.

That requires focus and standing for something larger than yourself. That’s what God’s word teaches us. And that’s what God will do if we focus on Him.

Chester Henry

Okotoks

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