Tom Cooper is founder and President of City in Focus.
Many years ago, I developed an unhealthy bond with one of my favourite cars. It was a 25 year old BMW but I loved it immoderately!
I always took it to a third generation local car repair shop called Tremblay’s Motors in Kitsilano who kept it going for me .
One day I dropped it off for a very necessary service. A day later, to my surprise I received a call from Sam, the owner, saying, “You can’t have your car back.”
He went on to give me a long list of things wrong with it including extensive rust through the body and an unfixable driver’s car seat. He told me that the car was too dangerous to drive and too expensive to fix.
I realized that Sam was keeping me safe in pronouncing my car dead. I had lost my focus because I loved that car and kept overlooking its many faults that were putting me in danger.
It’s easy to lose our focus over people, places or things. We all do so at times. The question is how do we regain a clear focus on the important things in life, like our primary relationships, family, our physical or mental health, careers and so on?
Let me answer that question with another story. I have been asked many times why I named the ministry I founded in 1988 City in Focus (CIF). The answer is because I believed that, without God, people in the city would lose their focus on what is important.
This struck a nerve and I was joined by many others in the city who believe that only with God’s guidance and presence can we get both our lives and our work in the city in focus. The name reflects the guiding principle of all that CIF does.
Jesus saw the struggles of those in the cities. “He saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd”. Matthew 9:36. Another translation describes the crowds as “confused and lost.”
Jesus offers life changing antidotes to our struggles and confusions. He brings us the fruit of His Spirit. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.” Galatians 5:22
So let us take time to refocus. Let us reflect on where we may be doing things that are not good for us in our lives and where we may have misplaced our focus on people, places or possessions that distract or consume us, adding to our confusion and disconnectedness.
Let us consider that through a renewal of our faith and in finding God’s love and guidance we may become better selves and regain our focus on what really matters.
Tom is founder and President of City in Focus Foundation. Beginning as a chaplain on his own, Tom has developed a significant agency which “develops new initiatives for the soul of Vancouver.”
City in Focus networks people with churches and non-profit organizations; facilitates group events and retreats to discuss spiritual and social issues; connects churches with each other for joint ministry or projects; gathers philanthropic and special interest groups; joins the City of Vancouver with Christian ministries to tackle social issues; and counsels and assists individuals in need.
City in Focus oversees the BC Leadership Prayer Breakfast: a significant annual event in the life of our city and province with more than 1000 leaders attending each year.
He has written this comment as a member of The Bell: Diverse Christian Voices in Vancouver. Go here to see earlier comments in the series.