Last week I connected Jesus’ “narrow gate” metaphor with his invitation to treat one another the way we would wish to be treated. Sometimes we miss the turn for the narrow gate. On other occasions we stop at the gate, reverse course and head back to the wide highway.

With all our sophisticated GPS devices finding an address is pretty easy – but as I move quickly down a road, I still miss a turn off. It’s a combination of speed, unfamiliarity with an area and not quickly recognizing the entrance or on-ramp.

Hawks and hummingbirds can keep me amazed for long periods, watching their very different flight patterns. But I’ve never asked, “Do they move their wings upward faster than downward?” That’s a question highlighted in Walter Isaacson’s LEONARDO DA VINCI.

In his book The Attention Merchants, Tim Wu traces the progression of advertising from the streets, to our homes, into our offices and into our pockets. With “selfies” and social media we can create our own image.

More information than we can possibly process comes at us every day. The beauty of a sunrise, the smile on a child’s face compete with a buzz on a device announcing an email, tweet, Facebook notification, LinkedIn update, Snapchat shot. Add to this whatever our work and responsibilities throw our way, the news of the day, our finances, our concern about politics, environment, poverty, health questions – and the beat goes on.