Month: December 2009 (Page 3 of 4)

Devotions from Leighton Ford’s book The Attentive Life

As shadows start to lengthen, we realize that things don’t last forever and we need to pay more attention to the things that endure.

We begin to wonder what we must let go of. What we need to hold on to closely. What do we need to reach out to more hopefully.

In this season of our lives we begin to see our losses like health, relationships, jobs, and we may sense a time of darkness.

To enter this darkness is to enter into the mystery of God and to the darkness of the unknown.  But it is also a time to know God more deeply. When our hearts break, they break open: then the word of God can enter deeply.

There are many deaths that we die throughout our lives: the death of our youth, of our dreams, of even our ideas of God and our church.  Yet these many deaths may be God’s way of bringing transformation and new life to us.

Just like the 40 days between Jesus death and resurrection and the coming of Pentecost, we must allow our spirit time to grieve the old , to be prepared to let go and receive the gift of the Spirit we need for our new life.

The author suggests for us to 1.Name our deaths. 2.Claim our births. 3.Grieve what we have lost and adjust to the new reality. 4. Do not cling to the old, and let it ascend and give you its blessing. 5. Accept the spirit of the life that you are in fact living.

We may not enjoy the dark times but they can be precisely the times when we have grown most deeply.

May we live this day paying attention to what is important.

Devotions from Leighton Ford’s book The Attentive Life
“We must be still and keep on moving.”  T.S. Elliot  

We need to be still because we are not God and He is.

When we are still our knowing comes not from without but from within, or more truly, what I see and experience without is received and illuminated within.

We must just BE before God.

When we are still God can break though the many layers with which we protect ourselves so that we can be poised to listen.

When we are on “automatic” we know many things very partially. In a mindful state we know a few things quite well.  In true contemplation we know one thing at a time deeply. And the many things fuse into one thing.

The paradox of our modern world is that we know so much about so many things, about how things work, but so little about who we are as persons, why we are.

When we reach the midpoint of our lives, we begin more and more to integrate the inner and the outer and discover a hidden wholeness as we begin to become our true selves.

May we stop long enough to pay attention to what God is saying to us, no matter where we are in our journeys. Our times are in His hands.

Often at the midpoint of our lives we are susceptible to distractions and fatigue.

Distractions are not necessarily bad if they are divine interruptions by which God gets our attention and turns us in a new direction.  Think of Saul when his life was interrupted by a divine light.  We need to pay attention when we are given a grace-giving distraction. (Example of Mary whose marriage plans were turned upside down by the angel’s announcement!) 

Sometimes important discoveries are made about life, the world, and ourselves from those moments of interruption when our attention is called away to something new.

This kind of distraction is different from the distractibility that diverts us from our true calling.

In fact we can suffer from SADD, a kind of Spiritual Attention Deficit Disorder as we get so busy and fatigue sets in.  We need to stop and realize how much is going on right now that we are missing.

Why don’t we give the Lord our full attention?
When we become overtired, maybe it is because we try to do it all ourselves and are not trusting God’s strength fully enough.

When we are anxious, maybe we don’t trust his goodness and power enough.

When we are apathetic we have not trusted his grace enough

When we are afraid, we have not trusted his love enough.

But when we turn to Him, His all-compassionate love is waiting to stream into our lives.

Devotions from Leighton Ford’s book, The Attentive Life
Why is it that we so often let many busy things of life pull us away from the main thing that should get our full attention?

Distraction comes from the Latin word to pull apart. When we are distracted we pull away from what deep down we know is our most fundamental goal, purpose or direction. We become confused by conflicting emotions or worries and get restless. Hurry is the enemy of the life of the Spirit.

Even the church may have so many activities that we are not “physically fit” to join the church!
Distraction splits us down the middle and divides us against ourselves.

Martha was so busy that she missed enjoying the present moment with Jesus. We need to pay attention to both our Martha and Mary parts…we are contemplatives in the midst of life!

Only one thing is needful.

“The things that don’t matter can be regarded with indifference and forgotten

The good things of life take priority.

But the best and deepest are discovered only through attentive waiting.”

Devotions from Leighton Ford’s book  The Attentive Life

Too often we hurry through our day and rush into things rather than doing things thoughtfully and will a whole-hearted attention. Much of the time we are only half looking, and half seeing and too  preoccupied with our thoughts to live in the present.

Before we launch into each day it is important that our “root system” is in place, that we are rooted and grounded in love.

Is our root system deep, wide, long and strong enough to withstand the pressures of each day?  It is most important that we abide and stay connected to the Vine so we can be fruitful and at home with Him.

To abide is not to settle down and forget the rest of the world. “It is a summons to stick with Him on the way, wherever that may lead, the promise that whatever comes He will stay with you.” It means constantly looking to Him and listening for His voice, seeking His ways. It is a continual conversation in which I listen to God’s voice and speak back to him.
Henri Nouwen said to pray without ceasing is to think, speak and live in the presence of God.

As we begin the day, may we quietly sit in His presence, waiting for His voice, hearing from His word ,and trusting Him who longs to spend time with us.

Devotions from Leighton Ford’s book, The Attentive Life

May our first reality of the day be that at dawn ( and long before) God is paying attention to us. “He creates each new day of our life as a gift. As day breaks, He calls us to be a people who pay attention, who watch over his world as He watches over us.”

In the spiritual sense of the first light of day, how did we awaken to God?  Was it like a thunder bolt much like the apostle Paul, or was it a gradual lightening like those who have always seemed to know God was there?

There is no set formula for becoming attentive to God who is there.  But God who loved us before we were born, reaches out to each of us in the ways He knows will best awaken the seed that has been planted in us from eternity.

The first step for us upon awaking may simply be, “God, I am here,” as we greet Him to begin our day. The exact form doesn’t matter but what matters is the reality.

C.S. Lewis said, “May it be the real I who speaks. May it be the real Thou that I speak to.

Devotions for Leighton Ford’s book, The Attentive Life

Each of us is part of a larger, longer, eternal purpose. God was contemplating us before we were born. As it says in Ps. 139:16 “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

We need to pay attention to what God was doing in us long before we saw the light of day for the first time.
God is thinking of us right now and if no one else ever hears of us, God knows we exist.  He greets each of us and calls us to be special persons who live purpose-drawn lives.

We can address our Creator with thanks and openness:
“Thank you, God, for creating me in my mother’s womb.

Thank you for paying attention to me, even before I was born

Thank you for naming me even before my parents did.

And please show me: why have you chosen me.”
As we reflect on our history may we ask with an open heart: For what purpose am I here?

And let us remember that God began to seek us even before we knew it, in the time before our time.
May we live in this awareness today.

Devotions from Leighton Ford’s book, The Attentive Life

What are the qualities of attentiveness?

1. Being fully present in the moment. As we pay attention to the present, each moment stands alone and becomes a visitation.
2. Looking long enough. As we look with absolute attention on something, it is like a revelation takes place.
3. Looking freshly at what is familiar. We don’t have to travel far for we can have a fresh awareness of what is close by and can change us.
4. Being available.  Attentiveness means a willingness to listen for God’s voice and being ready to obey.
5. Becoming aware. To live in awareness that each moment is an art that requires practicing.
6. Waiting with expectancy. To wait expectantly requires both discipline and commitment.
7. Being mindful and wakeful. We are to come awake and remain awake.

Attentiveness is both a gift to treasure and a discipline to practice.

A good practice today could be to say The Lord’s Prayer with absolute attention. We may be surprised at what happens within us.