“I think the pastor’s chief job is not to get something done but to pay attention to what’s going on, and to be able to name it, and to encourage it – nobody else is going to do that.” —Eugene Peterson
The world wants your attention.
In his groundbreaking book The Shallows, journalist Nicholas Carr explained how the digital age constantly pokes and prods us to surrender our attention. Whether it’s “random” Amazon ads showing up on your Facebook feed, email newsletters with irresistible subject lines, or the latest breaking news headlines, our attention is under relentless attack. This is why Cal Newport devoted an entire book to convincing people that their attention—not their skills—is the most valuable asset they have in today’s world. Your attention matters.
So, here’s the question: If our attention is so valuable and vulnerable, what exactly are we paying attention to?
Eugene Peterson was a man who spent his life paying attention—to God, to himself, to people, and to the world. It’s why he defined prayer as simply paying attention to God: noticing what He’s doing in the world, through the people in front of you, and how He is speaking to you. Peterson put it this way:
“Always it is God to whom we are paying, or trying to pay, attention. The contexts, though vary: in prayer the context is myself; in Scripture it is the community of faith in history; in spiritual direction it is the person before me. God is the one to whom we are being primarily attentive in these contexts, but it is never God-in-himself; rather, it is God-in-relationship — with me, with his people, with this person.”
This is why I want to focus on paying attention this year.
I want to pay attention to people—seeing the Divine image in the faces of those I’m with and remembering that their inherent dignity calls me to be present, because their presence is holy ground.
I want to pay attention to myself—naming what I feel, even when those feelings are unsettling, out of place, or unclear. I want to give voice to what I need, noticing when it’s time to push through or when I need to slow down.
I want to pay attention to God—fixing my focus on His presence and the beauty shimmering in creation. I want to be still enough to hear His voice, whether it comes through His Word, His people, or His (my) body.
Because the truth is, what we pay attention to shapes the people we’re becoming. When we pay attention to God, we find ourselves drawn into His purposes, caught up in the rhythms of His grace. When we pay attention to others, we step onto holy ground, honoring their God-given worth. And when we pay attention to ourselves, we open the door for God to meet us as we are—messy, unfinished, and ready for His transforming love.
This year, I want to pay attention like it’s sacred work—guarding it like the treasure it is and offering it to what truly matters.