Being Attentive
Compassion and Prayer
Reflection By Scott Stoner
Let us be grateful, let us be attentive, let us be open to what has never happened before.
- John Philip Newell
"Pay attention to what you pay attention to” is a saying that is at the heart of many of our Living Compass wellness resources. We know that what we pay attention to is what will grow in our lives. Prayer is one way we direct our attention to focus more on who we want to be and who God wants us to be.
As we explore the connection between prayer and compassion this week, I invite you to focus some attention in your prayer life on praying for compassion. Pray for compassion for yourself, and pray for a deepening of your practice of offering compassion to others.
John Philip Newell is a writer and retreat leader who draws heavily on the wisdom of Celtic Christianity. He has written a beautiful prayer called Presence that I will close with. It is a prayer about presence and being attentive, two crucial aspects of practicing compassion.
In the gift of this new day,
in the gift of the present moment,
in the gift of time and eternity intertwined,
let us be grateful,
let us be attentive,
let us be open to what has never happened before, in the gift of this new day,
in the gift of the present moment,
in the gift of time and eternity intertwined.
—Presence, from Sounds of the Eternal: A Celtic Psalter, 2002
Making it Personal: What speaks to you in this prayer? Do you see a connection between being attentive and being compassionate?