“Love Pays Attention”
A recent gift offered many treasures within: a book called ‘Love Beyond Reason’ by John Ortberg. I quote…
“It is a common scene. A couple sits at the breakfast table. One spouse (let’s say the husband) is immersed in the newspaper, while the wife is pouring out her heart. Frustrated, she finally complains, “You’re not listening to me.”
“I can repeat every word you’ve said,” is the standard response. He proceeds to demonstrate. Is she satisfied? No! She doesn’t want him simply to be able to replay her words – a tape reorder could do that. She wants him to be fully present. She wants him to put down the paper, look her in the eye, and pay attention to her. Being heard is not enough. She wants to be attended to.
Attention is one of the most powerful forces in the world. Along with food and water, a baby needs the attentive gaze of a human face…..Psychologists speak of this as atunement. The baby realizes it is possible to be somehow connected to – in tune with – another human being. The face scowls perhaps, or disappears, and the baby tries to figure out what happened, how to bring it back. The face becomes the mirror through which the child learns whether it is a source of delight or disappointment…The face is what tells the baby that it matters…
One of the great miracles of life is that God pays attention to us. This is partly why the writers of Scriptures speak so often of God’s face. This is the hope of the great priestly blessing that God himself taught the people of Israel:
The Lord bless you and keep you
the lord make his face shine upon you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you
and give you peace.
To turn your face toward someone is to give that person your whole-hearted, undivided attention. It is not the casual listening of a preoccupied mind. It is a statement; “I have nothing else to do, nowhere I’d rather be. I’m fully devoted to being with you.” This is the kind of attention God lavishes on us.
It gets better. This blessing says God will not only turn his face toward us, he will make it “shine” on us. The shining face is an image of delight, as the face of a proud parent, or a radiant bride. We can turn our face toward (pay attention to) anyone, with a little effort. But our faces shine and beam and grow radiant only in the presence of those we love most deeply. And this, says the prayer, is how God loves us. God pays attention to us.”
Next month sees the period of Lent beginning on Ash Wednesday the first of March. This is a time when we can turn our faces to God, to give our devoted attention to Him. To listen attentively, to grow through that experience and to recognise and receive God’s blessing. Whether in a lent group or in personal devotion, I pray you will take time to metaphorically ‘put down your paper’ and give God your undivided attention.
Of course, God devotes his attention to us constantly, daily, throughout the year, and through all eternity!!! How much blessing is that?
Wendy Gourlay