Intentional Attention
““The first act of love is always in the giving of attention.” ”
Have you ever paid attention to what you are paying attention to? I’d like to recommend that you give it a try or at least think about it.
I came across the above Dallas Willard quote recently and well, it caught my attention and I began to wonder — what is the connection between love and attention?
Let’s start with some thoughts on attention.
Attention is defined as “the regarding of someone or something as interesting or important.”
What I’ve discovered in my wonderings about attention is that my attention is constantly being vied for from my phone, billboards (such is life in LA), ads on TV and social media, as well as a host of other places. Images are screaming at me to “regard them as interesting or important”. As you are probably aware, soon after the rise of the internet, the smartphone, and social media, we began to hear of terms like “attention economy” and “distraction addiction”. This is the world we now live in.
Now, what about love?
As a follower of Jesus, I am to be growing into a person of love like Jesus. The greatest commandment is to love God and love my neighbor as myself (Matthew 22:37-40). And there’s more!
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
“And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony”
Now some thoughts on using our attention to love God and others. First, I need to be paying attention to God. Some ways that come to mind is through prayer, praise, and reading the Bible. What about loving others? Jesus modeled love by means of attention to all and every kind of people. When we pay attention to people, it is an act of love, because even without words, we are communicating that they are important.
In conclusion, by being intentional with our attention, we can bring more love into our relationships, our homes, our communities, and our world. I hope you will join me today in taking this small step to make the world a better place simply by the giving of your and my attention.