Today’s post concludes the qualities of attentiveness presented by Leighton Ford in Chapter 1 of The Attentive Life.
4. Being mindful. To illustrate this quality, Mr. Ford relates the story of a monk who was quite upset that he’d lost his umbrella. When asked by a brother monk why this was so bothersome, the first monk replied that it showed he’d lost his attentiveness!
5. Being wakeful. Paul admonished the early believers, stating in Romans 13:11 that “it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep.” Stated differently, a Senegalese proverb says: “The opportunity which God sends does not wake up him who is sleeping.” In his book Letters to Malcolm, C. S. Lewis writes on prayer, recommending wakefulness as a way to penetrate God’s disguises:
“We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always hard to penetrate. The real labor is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more to remain awake.”
Today’s question: When worry or anxiety dominate our thoughts following our job loss, it’s difficult to be wakeful. What techniques have you found effective to promote attentiveness?
Tomorrow’s blog: “The stars in our journey”
