Attention is a powerful FORCE!!!

Attention is one of the most powerful forces in the world. Paying attention is a sign of spiritual health. When you give someone your attention, you are saying, "You matter," "I am interested in you," and "I've got time for you."

I am sitting next to Nathan, our six month old. Psychologists use the word attunement to describe a phenomenon that happens with babies. A baby is a crib, at some moment, looks up and notices a face looking back. Someone is paying attention. For the first time, the baby realizes he or she is connected to, in tune with, another person. When the baby smiles, the other face smiles back.

Attention is an incredible gift; once we discover it, we realize we can't live without it. A popular Old Testament blessing says, "The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace." To turn your face toward someone is to give that person your complete, undivided, interested attention. To have God's face turned toward you is a gracious demonstration of God's mercy.

Luke 13:10-13
 "On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.”  Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

The same is true of us, God looked over history and their you and I were...in the corner and God in the flesh saw us. He then reached out of history and paid the price for what we could not do ourselves. Everyone of us desires to be noticed. When we recognize that God pays attention to us, we seek to return the favor and turn our attention to others. Lance Witt suggest we can do this by the following four actions:

1. Slow Down.
2. Look People in the eye.
3. Ask Questions.
4. Leave space in your daily routine for interruptions.
5. Avoid being preoccupied.

---much of the above is from Lance Witt and his book Replenish: Leading From a Healthy Soul, Baker Books, 2011. I highly recommend it.

We can pay attention as God paid attention to us. We can are fully capable to turn our face to the people around us. We are to reflect the radiance He showers on us and then others will seek to have a relationship with us....just like a baby in a crib, the smile will return. You know I love ya, Don