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The spiritual exercise of sleep

By Dave Henning / July 14, 2013

When we don’t get enough sleep, it is difficult to be attentive to God.  A recent survey found that many Americans get less than 6 hours of sleep per night and that 75% of us experience sleep difficulties several nights a week.  Sleep deprivation may result in irritability, impatience, and inattentiveness. As Leighton Ford concludes […]

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Waking up

By Dave Henning / July 13, 2013

“For darkness is as light to you.  For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”- Psalm 139:12-13 (NIV) “Vigils is the womb of silence, the darkest hour.”- David Steindl-Rast Leighton Ford notes in Chapter 2 (“The Birthing Hour: Time Before Time”) of The Attentive Life that Vigils, also known […]

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The stars in our journey

By Dave Henning / July 12, 2013

As Leighton Ford concludes Chapter 1 of The Attentive Life, he states that the first Epiphany story speaks powerfully to the stories of our own lives.  When we consider the Magi following the star to Jesus, we are moved to ask: “In the desert times of our world, of our heart, where do we find the […]

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The qualtities of attentiveness- Part 2

By Dave Henning / July 11, 2013

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 […]

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The qualities of attentiveness

By Dave Henning / July 10, 2013

Leighton Ford offers a detailed analysis of the qualities of attentiveness in Chapter 1 of The Attentive Life.  Five of these qualities really resonate with me.  The first three qualities are shared in today’s post.  The author’s descriptions are in bold type. 1.  Looking freshly at what is familiar.  The author cites Harvard naturalist Louis […]

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Welcoming God’s attention- or not

By Dave Henning / July 9, 2013

In Chapter 1 of The Attentive Life, Leighton Ford discusses the death of his son Sandy during surgery to correct a life-threatening heart problem.  The day prior to surgery, Leighton had a talk with God- or, as he puts it, an argument with God.  As Sandy’s earthly father, Leighton would have healed his son if he’d had […]

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Pay attention!

By Dave Henning / July 8, 2013

Continuing his discussion of attentiveness in Chapter 1 of The Attentive Life, Leighton Ford notes that we’ve been told to “pay attention” since we were children, as if this were the simplest thing in the world.  In reality, he asserts, attentiveness is a most difficult concept to grasp and a very hard discipline to learn. […]

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Chronos and kairos

By Dave Henning / July 6, 2013

“Time is not our enemy, nor is it a hostile place from which we must flee.  It is a meeting place, a point of rendezvous with God.”- Dorothy Bass, Receiving the Day At the beginning of Chapter 1 (“Paying Attention: The Hours of Our Lives”) of The Attentive Life, Leighton Ford describes St. Benedict’s “rule […]

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Longing and looking

By Dave Henning / July 6, 2013

In the Introduction (“Short Flights and Quick Returns”) of his book The Attentive Life: Discerning God’s Presence in All Things, Leighton Ford states that he has come to realize that now is the time to pay more attention to our own hearts and deepen our friendship with God.  Just as his deepest longing is to come home […]

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Broken cisterns- living water

By Dave Henning / July 4, 2013

“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”- Jeremiah 2:13 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he […]

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Recognizing the “god of me”

By Dave Henning / July 3, 2013

In Chapter 13 (“The God of Me”), the concluding chapter of Gods at War, Pastor Kyle Idleman states that it’s not a coincidence that he’s left the god of me for last.  While we’ll confront many of the gods discussed in his book at some point in our lives, we grapple with the god of […]

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Driven or called?

By Dave Henning / July 2, 2013

“There is not one square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine, that belongs to me!’ “-Abraham Kuyper As Pastor Kyle Idleman concludes Chapter 9 of Gods at War, he cites the above quote as a favorite of Charles Colson, who […]

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