Relentless Attention to What Truly Matters
We’re beginning to sink into our new surroundings here in West Town. After two weeks of out of sync craziness (one week of nesting, one week of guests and an amazing retreat that we’ll have to unpack at a later date) I am seeking intentionality in patterns that lead to life.
There is lots to pay attention to right now: email is backed up, projects are stacked high, new neighbors to get to know, deadlines for events are on the horizon…but the most important thing to focus on is sometimes the thing that does NOT cry for our immediate attention. Sometimes the choice to seek sanity leads me to questions like, “How did I get to where I am now? Who told me that these things I am so hurried with are the essential works to focus on today? Is God at the origin of these tasks that surround me?”
This past weekend was one to remind me what a relentless taskmaster I am of myself. No one holds higher expectations of my work than I do. As I re-enter the “sandbox” of the city, I re-approach it with the desire for “relentless attention to hearts…God’s, my own, and others.”
The heart is the ultimate motivating factor. Our minds may recognize the need to stop a harmful habit (smoking, over eating, workaholism, etc) but the heart is the wanter and chooser that drives us. More often than not, “The mind justifies what the heart has chosen,” (Author Unknown). No amount of self-will can reason a person out of something the heart desires.
Listening relentlessly to God’s heart offers me freedom from my own destructive vices. For me, its helping me pare down the projects to only what he’s calling me to, and reminding me that the only measure that matters is God’s measure. My measure is skewed – I’ve been lied to too much. I must learn to rely on God’s measure of me, and work alongside him in the greatest project in history – living in heaven, right here on earth.
God’s heart, my heart, the heart of my wife and others in my spiritual community quickly become muffled in the midst of my skewed pursuit of self-affirmation. My deepest desire is to pursue a loving relationship with God who already affirms me as his beloved Son. Suddenly, in the midst of the craziness, hearts are the center of my attention.
May there be a relentless attention in your day to what matters – what truly matters.
Katrina 10:22 am on July 31, 2009 Permalink
Mark, Thanks for writing this.
“Listening relentlessly to God’s heart…”
Alan 1:50 pm on July 31, 2009 Permalink
I am listening relentlessly to the Salsa music coming from across the street!
Mark 1:54 pm on July 31, 2009 Permalink
is that sweet, mild, or hot salsa?