The word Awareness has become linked to an ethos of: topics that deserve to be better understood. We might all agree that “________ Awareness Month” is going to be filled with factoids on TV and special marketing campaigns around whatever topic fills in the blank.

We have just as surely all heard from someone that, “I wasn’t aware of that” as their excuse for something they did or didn’t do.

So what does it mean for us as Christians to make a spiritual practice of awareness part of our lives? Firstly, attention and awareness are linked.

Scripture shows us how important turning our attention towards God can be. So often we hear the refrain that God’s people have turned their back on God or have lost interest in following God’s law. In these places we see the Holy Spirit in the lives of the Prophets moving their awareness in the direction of God and the work of love that God calls us to take on. When our attention is fixed on something we become more aware of it. We can gain more interest and establish better understanding.

I recently found my attention wandering to watch Olympic platform diving and I became increasingly aware of the athletes' efforts to jump, tuck, and spin before entering the water as cleanly as possible. By the second hour or so I even fancied myself able to grasp how hard their skills might be to master.

Shortly after the event ended I began to reflect on my presumption that I could understand the difficulties, challenges, and triumphs of those divers just by observing them. It was in that reflection that my awareness began to grow.

There is a part of awareness that is embodied. A kind of knowing that runs parallel to our intellectual comprehension. I can’t even dive from a pool edge with my hands entering the water first. I was never taught as a child and haven’t spent much time at pools as an adult.

The practice of Awareness is a spiritual work of interrogating where our attention is and what we gain from having given that attention in a particular direction. Through this we can also see if we are actually paying attention to faith in our lives or if we are focused elsewhere.

It takes time and willingness to try again to develop a sense of Chirstian Awareness. We can take small steps like saying a short prayer each time we touch a door handle or whenever we hear an ambulance’s sirens. Or we can set aside 5 minutes each morning and evening to pray, maybe in the car before we go to the office or store.

God is always pulling on our hearts. Giving gentle instruction on how to love more widely and care more deeply in the way that Jesus teaches us. My invitation to you this week to make an effort to account for your attention and raise your awareness of God in your life.

In Peace,

Fr. Chip