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.