Pay Attention

“In the gift of this new day,

Let us be attentive,

Let us be open to what has never been before.”

Excerpt from a prayer of John Phillip Newell

There is the kind of attentiveness we all use unconsciously to engage with the familiar tasks and events of the day and to respond to the challenges that may arise.  It is the way of habit and allows for a useful efficiency in life.  Yet there is far more to life than the surface details to which we respond automatically and a key to this “more” is profound attention – looking for what is deeper, what lies underneath, what is seen with the eyes of the heart. This is the attentiveness that uncovers meaning, cultivates wisdom, and fosters genuine relationships.

This kind of attention requires that we waken from the slumber of our habitual lives, and become intentional about our attention.  How often do we pass by a flower and not really see it? Or take a bite of a meal and not really taste it? Or walk past a disheveled person on the street and not really recognize her as human?  What do we discover when we really see?

Take a moment now in your familiar place to look around with openness to what you have never seen before: What do you notice?  What stirs you? What invitation arises?  What wonderment?

On a retreat I once spent 45 minutes gazing at a large beach rock protruding from the sands.  My retreat assignment was just to pay attention to one thing for a length of time without any preconceptions or expectations.  First my mind engaged – I described the physical appearance of the rock.  Then my emotions – I got bored with thinking about it! After a time of emptiness my heart expanded, clock time shifted to perceiving eons all at once, and an awareness of significance arose even in the rock before me.  In the end, as I left, I discovered that compassion for creation and its creatures had been sparked in me.  On my return I found myself rescuing a salamander that had strayed onto a dry path and was languishing. I doubt I would have even noticed it before.

What experience can you remember that revealed the “more” to you or touched you deeply because you paid attention?

One way we avoid paying deep attention is by labeling what we notice.  When we do that, we think we have understood what we’ve seen, and pass on to the next thing that comes into view.  But to label – useful as that can be – is also to limit; and, often, it is to judge.  It keeps us from seeing what is really there.  Our curiosity is stunted along with our sense of wonder and exploration. 

Deep listening is supported by a trust that there is the unseen, and that it can be of great significance for us.  When we pay attention deeply, we discover that we are addressed in some way, as I was by the beach rock.  We get in touch with what matters more or even most.  The sources that we draw on for life show themselves.  Meaning becomes clearer.  And we become more alive.

The risk – and the reward – of paying attention is that you will be touched, changed, opened to something new, and you will be spurred to let go of old ways and habits that served before but no longer do.  This can be scary but is also the cost of moving forward on the journey of life.

To what are you called to pay attention to in the gift of this new day?

Copyright Hearken Books.
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