The Practice of Paying Attention any of us are choosing to live lives that do not set us up to pay attention, to notice those places where God is at work and to ask ourselves what these things mean. We long for a word from the Lord, but somehow we have been suckered into believing that the pace we keep is what leadership requires. We slide inexorably into a way of life that offers little or no opportunity for paying attention and then wonder why we are not hearing from God when we need God most.
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I Must Turn Aside and Look at This Great Sight Learning to pay attention and knowing
By Ruth Haley Barton
Taken from Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry by Ruth Haley Barton. Copyright © 2008 by Ruth Haley Barton. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, PO Box 1400 Downers Grove, IL 60515. ivpress.com.
what to pay attention to is a key discipline for leaders but one that rarely comes naturally to those of us who are barreling through life with our eyes fixed on a goal. One of the downsides of visionary leadership is that we can get our sights set on something that is so far out in the future that we miss what’s going on in our life as it exists now. We are blind to the bush that is burning in our own backyard and the wisdom that is contained within it. We squander the gift of this day just as it is, these people just as they are, the uniqueness and the sweetness (even the bittersweetness) of this particular place on the journey just as it is, the voice of God calling to us in our own wilderness places. Amid the welter of possible distractions, leaders need time in solitude so that we can notice those things we would otherwise miss due to the pace and complexity of our lives. We need moments in our life when we let the chaos settle a bit and invite God to show us evidence of his presence at work in big ways and subtle ways and allow him to guide us in our understanding of what these things mean.
others and with my most authentic self. It is the experience of being off-center, full of turmoil, confusion and maybe even rebellion. Experiences of consolation and desolation are not right or wrong; they just are. They need not be particularly momentous; in fact, they might seem relatively inconsequential until we learn to pay attention and listen for what they have to tell us. God’s will for us is generally for us to do more of that which gives us life (John 10:10) and to turn away from those things that drain life from us and debilitate us. Many of our smaller decisions and most of our significant decisions — even those decisions that require us to choose between two equally good options — involve the ability to notice what brings a sense of life and freedom (2 Corinthians 3:17) to our most authentic self in God. As we become more attuned to these subtle spiritual dynamics, we are able to distinguish between what is good (what moves us toward God and his calling on our life) and what is evil (what draws us away from God).
Paying Attention to All Things Burning One of the most soul-strengthening things that can happen to a leader in the crucible of ministry is to know that God is at work, to hear a Voice speaking that is not our own. Paying attention to all things burning in and around us keeps us in touch with what is truest about God, ourselves and our world so that we can hear God calling us by name again. ■
Burning Hearts
Another way to stay in touch with the movement of God in our lives is to pay attention and give credence to that which burns within our own heart. The soulful leader trusts that in the midst of one’s very public existence something is going on in the deep interior spaces of the soul that warrants serious attention. St. Ignatius of Loyola describes these inner dynamics as consolation and desolation. Consolation is the interior movement of the heart that gives a deep sense of lifegiving connection with God, others and my most authentic self in God… Desolation is the loss of a sense of God’s presence. I feel out of touch with God, with
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