Paying Attention, Urgency & Healing

Small moments.
Can’t take them for granted.

An important practice for me involves paying very close attention.
I struggle at it, but when I do take in the simplest of moments, when I am present, I also find healing.

Today my oldest and I had a date. We talked about the end of our homeschool year and all we learned through it. We hadn’t planned to homeschool, but moving across the country, along with a few other things, provided circumstances that made it the best choice for us. And it’s been a journey. I’m thankful though. It gave me time with my baby in a way I hadn’t anticipated.

Time that I do not want to take for granted,
hard as it may be sometimes.

There is much I am processing about what happened in Texas and what has continued to happen in this nation and many other nations where precious lives are callously taken. There’s a lot to be said on that, but this idea of time and even more so truly paying attention and being present, that’s what keeps coming to mind when I look at my children and the people around me. Not just my family, though. Or friends. But the man on the side of the road asking for food and I happen to have some I can share. The woman walking her child on the sidewalk and our silent exchange of smiles as we pass by each other. The strangers I hold casual conversations with at the park that are surprisingly encouraging to my soul. The woman at Bible study who shares she’s 115 days sober and we whoop and holler with glee.

I just keep sensing this urgency to pay attention and as I do, I see glimpses of hope.

I’d be a fool to say I have all the answers. I don’t. But I do know that we can’t serve one another, we can’t love and move forward toward justice and action if we aren’t people of presence, attune to what is happening. If we are scattered, always tossed to and fro, we won’t have the stability needed to truly change.

So practice presence. Don’t take time for granted. Acknowledge suffering, please don’t just look away. Yes pay attention…

and remember to always, always look for hope.