Introduction
Can you pay attention… I mean, REALLY pay attention when you are in a hurry? I know I can’t. John-Kabat-Zinn shared some priceless wisdom, “The best way to capture moments is to pay attention.” Life is made up of moments, and how many of them do we let pass by with no notice or consideration? In Job 7:17 NIV, Job questioned, “What is mankind that you make so much of them, that you give them so much attention…?” In kung-fu, there is something called a beginner’s mind. This is a mind that is open to new possibilities and learning new things. Kids naturally have beginner’s minds, which is one of the reasons they can learn so quickly. They also have a sense of wonder about the world that we often lose as adults. Paying attention requires slowing down and not racing from one activity to the next.
Pay Attention With a Beginner’s Mind
Slowing our pace will naturally help us pay attention better. In the summer of 2010, I joined a group of cyclists on a journey across Canada. It was called Tour de Canada. Biking across Canada was a dream I had for many years, but I was never quite sure how I would do it. I found out about the Tour de Canada and put my name down on the waiting list (which was very long), not expecting anything to happen. A couple of months before the tour was scheduled to begin, I received a call saying that they had a spot for me. With only two months, I had to buy a touring bike and the necessary gear and start training. I did not feel ready, but I was up for the challenge. I remember landing in Vancouver, meeting the other 50 people who would be on the tour, watching them get their bikes tuned up, and thinking, “What have I gotten myself into?!” With a beginner’s mind, paying attention to everything I was unfamiliar with, I started the slow journey across Canada.
Pay Attention at a Slow Pace
A journey with a slow pace allows you to pay attention more and appreciate the beauty all around you. Biking is clearly a slower pace than a car and definitely much slower than a plane. You may drive across Canada at an average of 100-110 km/h. Flying across Canada, you may fly a few hundred km/h. But on a bike, we might go around 15 km/h (sometimes more and sometimes less). We biked for about 8 hours a day for two and a half months, averaging 130 km/day. Our pace was slow. We would often stop along the way to play in fields, climb trees, sit in blueberry patches and eat blueberries until our stomachs hurt. We jumped in lakes, swam in rivers, took pictures, talked to locals, and ate excessive amounts of food! Haha. I saw Canada in a way I never could have if I were in a hurry. I remember many lucid moments on that trip when we were surrounded by the beauty of a moment and thinking, “This moment will be a fond memory someday… so pay attention and take it all in.” There were many beautiful moments like these. With a slow pace, biking through unhurried days, I learned to pay attention.
Pay Attention to the Mystery of God and Creation
With a slow pace, we can pay better attention to the mysteries of God and his creation. People throughout history have studied and appreciated the beauty of creation. When I was young and still in a youth group, we had an evening bonfire outside the city at our acreage. One of the youth leaders, Warren, had a powerful flashlight and was pointing out different constellations to us. Warren was also a Northern Lights photographer. Years later, he took me out on one of his northern light photography sessions when I started getting into photography. At one o’clock in the morning, in the middle of winter on a frozen lake, he set up his camera to take some long exposure shots. I remember thinking, “I have lived here for 15 years, and I have been sleeping through these absolutely incredible displays of beauty and God’s creation!” Slow down. Pay attention. Keep a beginner’s mind. Every day, pray, “God, teach me something about you and your creation that I didn’t know before.”
Pay Attention to the Mystery of Yourself
By slowing down, we can pay more attention and learn about the mystery of who we are. I don’t think that many of us really know ourselves. We may think we do, but we really don’t. God knows who we truly are and what our full potential is. We would do much bigger, braver, more impactful things if we knew and lived out our true identity. I remember hearing Ed Mylett (podcaster, speaker, author, and businessman) say that when he gets to heaven, he thinks he will meet the man he was created to be, in all his potential. He hopes he will not be a stranger when he meets the full potential version of himself in heaven. He hopes they are twins. King David in Psalm 139 23-24 AMP prayed, “God, search me and know me, and reveal any wicked or offensive way in me, and then lead me in a new way. Lead me in the way of everlasting every day.” My goal is to slow down, pay attention, and pray “God, help me understand the mystery and beauty of me.”
Pay Attention to the Mystery of Others
Slow down and pay attention to the mystery of others. How often do we pass people by without paying attention and taking an interest in them? When driving in the city, do you ever see people driving by you, waiting at a stop light, or sitting at a bus station, and ask yourself, “I wonder what their story is?” They live like you and me, with hurts, hopes, questions, answers, and stories of victory and defeat. They have families… or maybe they had families. You have probably heard of the 10,000-hour rule, which says if you practice something for 10,000 hours, you will become world-class at it. This rule applies to many things… but not to relationships. After twelve years of marriage, I am still learning about the mysteries of my wife. Three kids, ages 10, 7, and 5, and my wife and I are still learning about the beauty, frustrations, troubles, questions, laughs, and heart-warming moments in the journey of raising them. Slow down, pay attention, and pray, “God, teach me something about someone else that I didn’t know before.”
Pay Attention with Generative Language
I love asking people the question, “What are you learning?” I came across this question in a book I read years ago. I can’t remember the book, but I loved the question. When I ask people this question, they usually pause (sometimes for an uncomfortable amount of time), tilt their heads, and then give me a deep, thoughtful, sometimes tentative answer. I learned recently about the difference between formulaic language and generative language. Formulaic language is the everyday, casual, small talk where we all know what to ask and what to say. Think about your conversations with the person who rings your groceries through. Generative language is asking deeper questions and generating new ideas, and it’s never usually the same from conversation to conversation. Jesus talked this way. He would ask tough questions, tell stories and make people think deeply, often in a way that made them feel uncomfortable. Generative language takes more work; it will often catch people off guard, but the quality of thinking will likely increase. Try it out. Every day, ask someone, or even ask yourself, “What are you learning?” and then pay attention.
Pay Attention to the Doctor and his Dog
I want to share a story I read recently that made me smile, challenged me to be a better teacher and leader, and made me pay more attention. It also connects with the topic of this blog post. The following story is from Jamie Winfield’s book Living Fearless. It’s a story of a professor who had a unique way to cause his students to pay attention:
In the late 70’s when I was an undergrad at university, I had a professor, Nick Pappas, a PhD in political philosophy. He was one of the best professors I’ve ever had in my life. He was crazy and also famous for a book about Vietnam… One method Dr. Pappas used to hold the attention of his students was to talk to his imaginary dog, Ranger. Students never knew when Dr. Pappas would suddenly start shouting commands to Ranger.
Once a student asked Dr. Pappas if he could actually see Ranger.
“Of course I can see my dog,” he said, laughing.
“Then why can’t I see Ranger?” the student pressed.
“Because you’re not paying attention to where Ranger really is in the room. And you’re not paying attention because he’s not your dog.” Dr. Pappas thought for a moment and then asked the student, “Can you see Jesus in this classroom?”
“Of course not,” the student scoffed.
“That’s because you’re not paying attention to where Jesus is in this classroom. And you’re not paying attention because Jesus is not your Lord… yet” (p.42-43).
Conclusion
Are we hurried, racing through life, not paying attention, and missing out on the memorable moments God wants us to capture and learn from? To recap. Every day, make it a goal to (1) pay attention to the mystery of God and creation, (2) pay attention to the mystery of yourself, and (3) pay attention to the mystery of other people. In 2 Corinthians 2:11 NIV, Paul says, “Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.” The Christian philosopher Dallas Willard once pointed out, “Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life in our day. You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” Let’s all commit to slow down, pay attention, keep a beginner’s mind, appreciate the beauty and mysteries all around us, be aware (but not fearful) of the enemy of our souls and his tactics, and live in the unhurried rhythms of God’s grace.
References:
Winship, J. (2022). Living fearless: Exchanging the lies of the world for the liberating truth of God. Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.