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Dear Covenant Family,
I’ve been noticing the little things lately. The way crocuses are peeking through the soil and daffodils are starting to bloom now that spring is in the air. The small kindnesses strangers extend to one another on a walk or in the grocery store. The gestures of patience on a Zoom screen when we try not to interrupt one another through cyber space. That one verse of a hymn or scripture reading that seems to contain the whole world within it. One bird, alone at a feeder. One glance from a loved one that seems to ask, “are you ok?” without saying a word. The way the coffee steams when it first brews. The light from the small candle on my desk.
The act of paying attention, whether by careful listening or seeing, is a spiritual practice. French philosopher Simone Weil, in the book Gravity and Grace, said this:
Attention, taken to its highest degree, is the same thing as prayer. It presupposes faith and love. Absolutely unmixed attention is prayer. If we turn our mind toward the good, it is impossible that little by little the whole soul will not be attracted thereto in spite of itself.
What are you paying attention to these days? How are you slowing down enough during Lent to tend your soul? Noticing the little things is a good start….
Creator God,
We cannot hear the trees growing—
seeds pushing up through the dirt into the sun.
And we cannot hear a single drop of rain, missing one in the many.
We cannot hear the weight of people’s grief, a burden that so often is silent.
And we cannot hear when hearts are changed, but you can.
You hear it all.
So once again, we come to you with bowed heads and hopeful hearts,
Asking that you would lend us your ears.
Help us to hear as you hear so that we can live as you lived.
We are listening.
Amen.
(Prayer by Sarah Are, Sanctified Art)
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