Attention and Awareness

“It is attention and awareness, in other words, that the Rule of Benedict brings to spirituality. Indeed, the very reason the rule of Benedict is not a rule in the strictest sense of the word is precisely because immersion in life is exactly the point of Benedictine monasticism. Benedictism is not a prescription frozen in time; it is time brought under the scrutiny of gospel values. the Benedictine does not set out to avoid life; the Benedictine sets out to live the ordinary life extraordinarily well. as a result, the real monastic is alive to the world.” (Joan Chittister, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily, 8).

What does it mean to live with attention and awareness? I feel like we talk about these things so much around here. A grateful spirit. Hope despite exhaustion. Wholeheartedness in daily life. Vulnerability in relationships. Seeing the world for its remarkableness. Noticing need and responding to it. Can any of those things happen if we aren’t first praying? If we aren’t looking for something to actually be attentive to? Just wondering about these things today…

What do you think it means to be “alive to the world”?