{"id":419,"date":"2010-05-19T23:12:01","date_gmt":"2010-05-19T23:12:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/experts.patheos.com\/expert\/alycemckenzie\/?p=130"},"modified":"2016-01-30T07:28:44","modified_gmt":"2016-01-30T13:28:44","slug":"knack-for-noticing-blog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/knackfornoticing\/2010\/05\/knack-for-noticing-blog\/","title":{"rendered":"Knack for Noticing Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>Knack for Noticing<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Welcome to my blog Knack for Noticing (KFN). KFN is my label for hyper-attentiveness to\u00a0 what God is doing in my inner life, the lives of those around me, and the life of the wider community. This includes attentiveness to interesting stray thoughts, images, metaphors, stories, memories, and conversations. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many of us go through life seeing things in a surface way but not really noticing them. We need to cultivate KFN, as teachers, preachers, and as people of faith in whatever role we play in life. The KFN blog is not just for teachers and preachers, though it will provide a quirky, creative source of anecdotes and kernels of insight for your lessons and sermons. It is for anyone who wants to heighten your awareness of what God is doing in the world around you and within you each day.\u00a0 I write about it in my book Novel Preaching: Tips from Top Writers on Crafting Creative Sermons<\/em> (Westminster John Knox Press, 2010). I\u2019ll share more thoughts from the book in future blog entries. <\/strong><\/p>\n

For now, it\u2019s enough to point out that the great mystics of every religion have recommended attentiveness as a spiritual posture for living each day. <\/strong><\/p>\n

This blog will not just be a record of my attentiveness to the details of my everyday life; I hope it will become a group conversation in which many people share their daily insights. <\/strong><\/p>\n

I won\u2019t attempt to make a coherent sermonette out of each of my blog entry. It may have a random feel to it. It may at times be silly because sometimes I am. I invite you to respond with what you\u2019re noticing in your daily life. Your observations could be images, conversations you have or overhear, stories you read, see or experience, memories, insights from something you read, random profound thoughts the world needs for you to record before they slip away\u2026.For those of you who are preachers, they\u2019re often the things you notice that create a pinprick\u00a0 in your brain that says \u201cThat\u2019ll preach.\u201d Unless we record them, they slip away and are forgotten.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0I\u2019m hoping we can create a community of attentive\u201d God-watchers,\u201d people with a highly developed \u201cknack for noticing,\u201d whose sharing of our insights benefits our own spiritual growth as well as those with whom we interact each day. <\/strong><\/p>\n

May 19, 2010 A Lesson from the Washeteria<\/strong><\/p>\n

Usually I read while walking on my treadmill. Yesterday I found myself watching the View. That\u2019s not always a particularly fruitful experience. A few months ago I realized that I was actually listening to the View women debate health care! But, yesterday I picked up a tidbit that might teach or preach. Fred Thompson, actor turned politician was a guest, there to\u00a0 promote his memoir that came out this month called Teaching a Pig to Dance, <\/em>an account of his 1950\u2019s era upbringing in Lawrenceburg, Tennessee. The title comes from the old saying describing a fruitless endeavor, \u201cIt\u2019s like teaching a pig to dance. It\u2019s a waste of your time and it irritates the pig.\u201d The memoir promises to be full of humorous anecdotes, kind of a \u201cSouthern Fried Lake Woebegone.\u201d\u00a0 On the show he told the story of being a young father charged by his wife with taking the dirty diapers to the local washeteria. (Translation: Laundromat)There were lots of young moms in there, and he was trying to look like he knew what he was doing. He put a big load of dirty diapers into an industrial sized machine and added enough quarters for it to run quite a while. \u00a0Only then did he realize he\u2019s put them into a dryer, not a washing machine. And once he realized it, wasn\u2019t sure how to rectify it without looking foolish. Sooner or later if we\u2019ve postponed dealing with a nasty problem, the day of reckoning comes. I\u2019m glad I wasn\u2019t within smelling distance of the moment he opened the dryer door. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Too Busy for Celebration<\/strong><\/p>\n

In preparation for a Bible study I help lead at a halfway house for women addicts (Recovery House in Dallas), I was reading a book called Treasuring the Treasure: Exploring Spirituality<\/em> by Ronald N. Beshara, STL, JCL. It\u2019s a helpful, practical book, the fruit of Monsignor Beshara\u2019s 30 years of ministry as a parish priest, which includes several years of hospital, prison and substance abuse counseling.\u00a0 One of his insights is that many of us in 21st<\/sup> century America are so obsessed with doing that we have lost touch with being. Now that is not a new insight. Many of us suspect what we call our \u201cwork ethic\u201d is actually \u201cworks righteousness.\u201d The doing\/ being comment is not going to be a game changer for us. It may have been said so often that it bores us. But Monsignor Beshara gives it a couple of knife twists that made me feel some pain. <\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. 1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>\u201cSome of us believe that spirituality is about getting something rather than being someone. Our spiritual yearning leaves us rushing to preconceived destinations while neglecting the very journey\u2026.\u201dp. 3 <\/strong><\/li>\n
  2. 2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>We are so caught up in our \u201cto do\u201d lists that we moan and groan about happy events because they cut in to our doing<\/em> time. Regrettably, life events become less celebrations and more obligations.\u201d (vi)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    All right, that gets KFN rolling.\u00a0 Let me know what you\u2019re noticing and we\u2019ll get this conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    This blog is an invitation to people of faith to cultivate your “knack for noticing” (KFN) where God is speaking to you in the course of your daily life. Many of us go through each day seeing but not really noticing what we see. I invite you to share the images, anecdotes, memories, conversations, insights, stray thoughts, and stories that come to your mind and heart each day. If you’re a teacher or preacher the KFN blog will be a source for quirky, creative anecdotes and insights for lessons and sermons. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":224,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nKnack for Noticing Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This blog is an invitation to people of faith to cultivate your "knack for noticing" (KFN) where God is speaking to you in the course of your daily life. Many of us go through each day seeing but not really noticing what we see. I invite you to share the images, anecdotes, memories, conversations, insights, stray thoughts, and stories that come to your mind and heart each day. 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