Paying Attention (Alex Siemers)
"Did You Call Me?" by MTSOfan (via a Creative Commons license)
I’ve found it harder to pay attention these past few weeks. Granted, part of this change is specific to my circumstances: my wife and I had our first child about three months ago. This makes paying attention both more difficult (I don’t sleep as much) and more important (if I turn my head for a few seconds while changing a diaper, pee ends up all over the wall). But some of this is, I think, widely shared—the days seem to blur together in quarantine. In addition to its medical symptoms, COVID-19 warps our sense of time and removes many of the routines that normally structure our weeks. And given the news updates that flood our phones, who can blame us for not wanting to pay attention?
If this isn’t enough, social media is designed to capture our attention. Companies like Google and Facebook are astonishingly good at doing so: as my pastor likes to put it, we frequently end up being “distracted from distraction by distraction.” As a result, “continuous partial attention” characterizes our society. Instead of intently focusing on one thing, we constantly check e-mail and social media while also trying to complete other tasks.
It’s hard to pay attention. Yet Scripture is filled with calls to take heed, to pay attention, and to remember. After reflecting on God’s faithful deliverance in a variety of circumstances, the Psalmist calls Israel to “pay attention to these things [and to] consider the steadfast love of the Lord (107:43).” The letter to the Hebrews reminds its readers that paying attention to the proclamation of God’s salvation prevents them from drifting away from the truth (2:1). And when Jesus speaks in parables about the kingdom of God, he calls his disciples to pay attention to what they’re hearing (Mark 4:24).
As these examples highlight, what we’re primarily supposed to pay attention to is God’s steadfast love, God’s salvation, God’s kingdom. This, of course, means paying attention to Jesus. Jesus is the embodiment of God’s love for humanity, and the cross is both the instrument of God’s salvation and the establishment of God’s kingdom.
What we see when we pay attention to Jesus is that God pays attention to us. God does not ignore the chaos, sin, and brokenness of the world. Rather, God is intently focused on rescuing human beings from the mess that we got ourselves into. This is true whether or not we’re paying attention to God—God takes the first step, makes the first move. God pays the utmost attention to us: this is our comfort and our hope, now as always.
I’m trying to remember this. Truth be told, it’s tough to do so. First, I’m trying to put away the distractions—leaving my phone off or in another room for a few hours (or longer). Believe it or not, I don’t need to be constantly connected. And when I disconnect in that way, I’m more available to connect with my wife and my son. I also feel less anxious about the pandemic: taking a break from the stress-inducing headlines is well worth it. Then, I’m trying to pay attention to Jesus. For me, this primarily means using The Book of Common Prayer. It’s often hard for me to find the words to say to God; using the prayers of faithful Christians who have gone before helps me a great deal. Finally, when I do leave the house, I’m trying to pay attention to the people around me. This sometimes means giving six feet of space to those walking the opposite way, and sometimes means asking those working at the grocery store how they’re doing—or expressing my thanks for their hard work.
In these strange times especially, filled with distraction and anxiety, loving God and loving our neighbor means paying attention to the things that matter most.
Alex Siemers is a student staff at The Carver Project and just completed his second year of law school at Washington University in St. Louis.
Further Reading:
Augustine, The Confessions
The Book of Common Prayer: Morning Prayer
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