Shifting attention toward God
“The great spiritual traditions suggest that the relationship with God is cultivated like other relationships: as we turn our attention toward God we open the possibility of a fuller relationship. Entering into this relationship does not so much require a change in our behavior as a shift of attention…
Some shifts of attention don’t require any special time at all:
- Walk more slowly (it has an amazingly calming effect)
- Say thank you more often — to your children, to sales clerks, to co-workers, to people cleaning the street
- When you feel yourself getting tense, take a breath. Recite a line that reminds you of your spiritual retirement, e.g., ‘Guide me,’ or ‘This moment is sacred.’
- When someone is annoying you, say a version of the Buddhist loving kindness meditation: ‘May s/he be free from suffering, may s/he be filled with loving kindness, may s/he be at peace.’
- When you see something of beauty (a flower, a sunset, an act of kindness) say a silent ‘thank you.’
- Smile more often.”
— Patricia McBee, 2003
Former Executive Director of Friends Center in Philadelphia
Reader Responses
When have you felt the presence of Spirit in a busy moment?
I have found that when humour overtakes a moment, whether the moment is serious or mundane, I fell the presence of something 'more'. The simple act of realizing that life doesn't take itself too seriously seems to me, to pull back the curtain of the universe. The human mind is incredibly powerful and ultimately flawed. A computer, of sorts, assembled over millenia with input from a vastly different world than we live in now. But no matter how high functioning our brains, or how disordered, we can all find laughter, levity, and humour. These somehow hold a key to our humanity and at the same time unlock a window into the greater Mystery.
Becks R., Carstairs, Alberta, Canada
A week ago tomorrow, I slipped on ice and broke my hip, neatly, but it’s life-changing. Because I live alone in the woods, the constant sounds here at the hospital were, at first, distressing.
Because of the Peace I am able to summon through meditation and loving kindness, I have come to welcome the company of the people coming and going, as well as the alarms and alerts that make this facility a safe place for so many, including me.
Patricia S., North Chesterfield, VA, USA
I felt a real calm come over me, a feeling of acceptance and letting it be. With this came hope. I knew everything would be ok. Today my friend who has been in an induced coma for two weeks opened her eyes.
Diane P., Heywood, Great Manchester, UK
There were many times over the years that I have experienced the presence of Spirit, particularly some years ago. I worked in an extremely busy environment for Amazon where I was constantly on my feet on the warehouse floor. There was the noise of the conveyor belts, the shouts of co-workers and floor supervisors.
In the noise and work load, I devoted intentional conversation with the inner voice that I call the Spirit or God. Calling for the Spirit to speak to me, speak within me, be with me. In the Presence I was sustained throughout the day and welcomed the quiet even the more when I could get it.
"Be still, know God."
Joseph J., Brown Deer (Milwaukee), WI, USA
I feel the Spirit while cooking with many in a loud kitchen preparing food for the homeless shelter.
Marilyn S., Pacifica, CA, USA
This Week’s Messages
Mon Dec 15
Pray in noise and clatter
“The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clatter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Sacrament.” …
Tue Dec 16
How to pray while working
“I believe that every piece of daily work can be done as a sacramental act. It is not too difficult to pray on one’s knees as the floor is scrubbed, ‘Wash me, O Lord, as I was this floor…’ Awakening from sleep can be woven into a beginning prayer for the day, ‘As I stretch my body and limber my joints for the day’s tasks, thou O Lord, make my spirit supple and ready to accept whatever the day may bring…’ Prayers so brief can run through all the day’s activities. They can be simple, symbolic, spontaneous, based upon the needs and acts of the day.” …
Wed Dec 17
Contemplation is not just for empty time
“The worst disservice we could do would be to commit the heresy of identifying the act of contemplation with a block of empty time or with the provision of an empty space, or to limit it to a certain peculiarly endowed class of persons, or in Greek fashion, to a social class that was drenched with leisure. Contemplation is, as we have insisted, standard equipment, and can never be completely identified with vacant spaces in life or with freedom from responsibility.” …
Thu Dec 18
Let stray thoughts fall away
“Simple manual tasks, the kind we often seek to obliterate by playing the radio while we work, are actually precious opportunities to strengthen our capacity for inner silence. For with the radio off we can use the activity to practice resting our awareness on the working surface – the place where the newspaper touches the window we are washing, or where the broom’s bristles sweep the floor. If our attention strays we can simply and gently notice that it has, and return it to the working surface.” …
Fri Dec 19
From the core of myself to the core of the suns
I am aware, / As I go commonly sweeping the stair, / Doing my part of the every-day care / Human and simple my lot and my share / I am aware of a marvelous thing: / Voices that murmur and ethers that ring / In the far stellar spaces where cherubim sing …
Sat Dec 20
I felt that while I was listening to the rain
“All the nobler instincts of our race are born in solitude and suckled by silence. This solitude need be no far away wilderness in Nature; this silence need be no Himalayan peak. You stop for a second as you cross your city square and glance at the belt of Orion.” …
Read the source of today’s quote
Banner art by Ruth A. Seeley
