I didn’t care who saw me or what they thought. My younger son had been sick and struggling throughout the night and I knew that we’d be heading to the doctor in the morning. Just as the doctor’s office opened its phone line, Leyton took a turn for the worse. I’d seen it before and knew. He had pneumonia. As he coughed and gulped for air, my calm but concerned demeanor gave way to the kind of worry that kicks a mother in the stomach when there’s really something to worry about. The nurse on the phone heard him gagging in the background and said, “Get him in here right now.”

I threw both boys into the car and tore down the driveway. We were still in our pajamas. We had bed head. We hadn’t brushed our teeth. I didn’t care. We ran into the doctor’s office a sight to behold, I am sure. But I didn’t care. I cared about only one thing, and what I looked like wasn’t it. When Leyton was in the doctor’s arms and the nurses were rushing to begin his treatment, a wave of relief washed over me. We had made it. I wasn’t alone. Someone with more experience and more resources was in charge. Nobody commented on my appearance. No one cared. Everyone was focused on more important things.

Some moments in life so grab our attention that everything else simply fades away. With a single phone call, we can go from agonizing over what’s in style to running out of the door in sweats. The things that once seemed so important suddenly have to fight for our attention. And we don’t give it to them. We simply don’t care. Other things have taken their place.

Sometimes it’s not a single moment, but a series of moments, that en masse, call for our attention. Our priorities change over time, as the significance of our life experiences takes root deep inside. The day comes when we realize that our perspective has shifted. Certain things in life have become very important while others have faded away.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this as we head into another holiday season. I thought about it the day 8 catalogues jammed with “essentials” and “must haves” arrived in the mail. I thought about it the day my cub scout and I went out to sell wreaths and happened upon the embarrassed and apologetic woman who wanted to buy a wreath but didn’t have $12 to spare. I think about it when I read the Facebook posts of a childhood friend who perseveres through setbacks as she and her husband work to adopt a baby boy with special needs. I think about it as people I love pick up the pieces and navigate the holidays after their families have been devastated by divorce.

I realize that as I focus in on the things that really matter to real people, who face real worries, real stresses, and real fears, the messages from frivolous sources simply fade away. The magazines and the ads and the hype can try to fight for my attention, but they’re not getting it. I simply don’t care.

All this thinking brings me back to Jesus Christ. He is not known for giving in to the frivolous. He has only been known and only ever will be known for focusing in on the things that are important: reconciling broken people to their loving God, extending compassion to the downtrodden, and soothing broken hearts with tender mercies. Those are the things that matter to him, that grab his attention. The more we focus on him, the more those things will grab ours. Other things will fade away.

Then, just as I rushed Leyton to help on that worrisome day, we will find ourselves rushing to bring the needs of people we care about to Christ. He has more than experience. He has infinite knowledge, infinite power, and infinite resources. He has everything necessary to soothe, heal, and reconcile. He is our collective relief.

As you head into the holidays, think about this: When Jesus came to earth, he rushed to our rescue, leaving every trapping of his heavenly realm, every shred of his dignity, behind. He didn’t care that he was born and placed into a feeding trough. He didn’t care what he looked like as he hung on the cross. He was totally focused on something far more important.

What trappings of your world do you need to set aside so that you can focus in on what’s really important this year? What has so much of your attention that you are having trouble paying attention to the needs around you? What is diverting your gaze away from the baby in that manger, the savior hanging on the cross, and the empty tomb he left behind? Will you fix your eyes on Jesus this Christmas?

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace. (Helen H. Lemmel)

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1-3, NIV)