The Spiritual Discipline of Paying Attention
By Julie Hawkins, Pastor of Ministry
This time of year has a way of scattering us. The school schedule feels like a sprint to the finish line. Summer plans begin filling the calendar. Sports, vacations, end-of-year events, and longer evenings slowly change the rhythm of life. Before we realize it, our attention becomes fragmented. And most of us do not notice it happening because we’re just trying to keep up.
We often think of distraction as a minor inconvenience, something that simply keeps us from being productive. But spiritually, attention matters more than we think. What we consistently notice shapes what we love. What we give our attention to ultimately forms us.
Scripture repeatedly shows us the importance of paying attention.
Moses notices a burning bush and turns aside to look. Elijah hears the voice of God not in the wind or earthquake, but in a whisper. Jesus constantly notices the people others overlook…the woman at the well, the blind man on the side of the road, Zacchaeus in the tree.
Attention has always been part of our growth, our discipleship.
But we live in an age designed to compete for our attention. In fact, it’s one of the most valuable commodities in our attention economy.
Notifications. Endless scrolling. Constant noise. The pressure to stay busy. The feeling that we should always be consuming, producing, reacting, or moving to the next thing. We are rarely still long enough to notice our own souls, much less the presence of God.
The Christian life is not merely about learning more information about God. It is about learning to recognize His presence in the middle of ordinary life.
When I graduated from high school many years ago, someone gave me the book Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. I always think about it when I start getting graduation cards from our high school seniors. This 17th-century monk stressed that communion with God was not reserved for church services, or morning quiet times, or mountain-top spiritual moments, but could be, should be, is most often experienced in the middle of everyday life…washing dishes, preparing meals…or in our context, we might add kid drop-offs, calendar planning meetings, end-of-year after-school events. Our ordinary everyday life.
The insight that I’ve carried from that book throughout my days is simple, but profound: God is closer than we realize. Am I attentive enough to notice, pay attention, and commune with God?
Summer has a way of changing our routines. That can become an opportunity instead of a distraction. A chance to slow down enough to notice what we often miss.
Maybe one of the most important spiritual disciplines we can take into this last month of school/beginning of summer is simply paying attention. Paying attention to where God is already at work. Paying attention to the people around us. Paying attention to the condition of our hearts. Paying attention to the quiet invitations of the Holy Spirit, we often rush past them. Not escaping ordinary life, but becoming more aware of God within it, practicing God’s presence as we go about our day.
So I encourage you this week to notice. Notice God in your everyday life. Whether that is an evening walk, or a conversation with a friend, noticing the needs of a neighbor, or the beauty of creation; notice God in the dishes, in the Zoom call, from the sidelines of your kid’s sports.
God is never distant. Let’s make sure we aren’t so busy that we don’t notice his presence with us.
“Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
Pastor Julie