As you read this, I would suspect that in your homes and in your heads, Christmas is a thing of the past. It is time for the ghosts of Christmases past to gather steam for December 2012. The decorations are history, and for the little ones among us, if the toys are not broken, they surely are not being used as much as they were last month. And for the older among us, those things labeled "some assembly required" are up and being used or perhaps more likely through frustration, they are still in the box or they have been dispatched to the store from whence they came-in the hope of a refund.

If you paid attention to the flood of ads prior to Christmas, it seemed that there was a great deal of enticement and incentive in the form of lower prices to get us to purchase digital stuff. In addition to the usual wide screen TVs there was a great deal of emphasis on digital cameras. I am sure that Santa brought some of you one of those slick-looking digital cameras.

If you have never used one of these there will be a learning curve aimed at allowing us to take the perfect picture. And that so-called perfect picture will take a great deal of trial and error. Once we master the intricacies of focusing the lenses, then bingo - it becomes just a little shy of perfect.

Surely, for those who use digital cameras focus is important but it is all the more important when we look at our lives. From time to time we hear people being described as "scattered". This is not a description that we would want ascribed to ourselves. To be scattered means being all over the lot; what is important today goes into the trashcan tomorrow.

When one is scattered, very little is accomplished. In the last months of 2011, the word Occupy took on an unusual meaning and it swept the world. These movements aided by the technology of the 21st century seemed to take the world by storm. It began in the Middle East and soon spread to Wall Street. Unlike the Occupy (protest) movements in the Middle East which were aimed at overthrowing dictators, the Occupy Wall Street and similar Occupy movements seem to have no defined focus. In case you have not noticed Wall Street is still in New York (read business as usual). Banks are still foreclosing homes and life seems to go on.

If there is a focus -it seems to me it is hard to find. I think it is having an adverse effect on those 99% whom it purports to help. Closing down the Port of Oakland and depriving people of their wages, does not seem to make any sense.

All of this comes from lack of focus. There is no plan.

It is very much the same in our own lives. We need focus; we need purpose; we need goals. Without them the result is chaos. During our life journey, we need to follow a road map and for those who are disciples of the Lord, the road map is clear. We are all called to holiness and we achieve that by being faithful to who we are - no matter our state, occupation, or those things which seem to impede us. We must keep moving forward and keep our lives in focus. In so doing we will not drift from one thing to another.

Do you want to be a better person? Do you wish for a fulfilled life, which has purpose and meaning? I have a suggestion. Join the "Occupy Movement." In this case it is not we who are doing the occupying but letting God take over and occupy our lives with his grace and his support. Our prayer each day should be Lord, occupy my heart my mind and my soul this day - I give you this day, help me to conduct myself in a manner most pleasing to you. And at the end of that day of God's occupying your heart you can move forward with confidence that the Lord who began the good work in you will bring it to a successful conclusion.