Devotions based on David Benner’s book, Soulful Spirituality

Being aware and awake are very important aspects of our spiritual journey. We go through most of life as sleepwalkers and need to awaken and become aware, lest we live shallow lives. The Bible encourages us to rise from our sleep, listen to what the Spirit is saying and pay attention. Inattentiveness deprives our souls and we end up living soullessly. Paying attention is not scrunching up our willpower but opening ourselves to what we encounter. We need to allow ourselves to be absorbed by our present experience. “Contemplation is an apprehension of existence that is wide awake and uncluttered by thought.”   Instead of thinking about what we are experiencing and trying to analyze or understand it, we just simply allow ourselves to be captivated by it. Rather than us trying to GET IT, we allow IT to Get us!  Children are better at being absorbed by a single thing, which seems to be more difficult for me. When we pay attention to the details of experience it has potential to enrich our spiritual journey. Let us take a few moments each day to pay attention to what is happening in and around us. “Paying attention is the foundation to living spiritually and mindfully.”