Reviews for Attentive Life: Discerning God's Presence in All Things

The average rating for Attentive Life: Discerning God's Presence in All Things based on 2 reviews is 5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-12-24 00:00:00 Terry Odom There are a lot of reasons I love this book. I've read it over a long period, in small bits at a time so that I could contemplate, absorb, and apply. I still tend to operate at a fast pace - but this book reminds me to frequently pause and observe so that I can get a glimpse of God working in my life. Recently, I find myself thinking of God at the various hours of the day (Vigils, Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers, and Compline). That structured thinking helps me focus my attention on God, but also on the daily tasks at hand. I find meaning in more things than I used to as a result. And that makes each day more rich. The book encourages me to "retreat" into contemplative thought, but not for the sake of contemplation alone. Rather, it encourages me to use those times of quiet to face life's challenges head-on. One illustration the author used was especially meaningful to me: the futility of trying to keep pace with the setting sun as darkness comes (one can never outrun the darkness), vs. turning east, into and through the darkness as the quickest way to get to the light. The author shared what were probably the most difficult of his own life experiences to highlight how being attentive has helped him cope and keep moving forward in his relationships and life's work. I enjoyed how the author drew analogies between the liturgical hours and the stages of life. I also liked his use of poetry to illustrate a point; it helped me see and feel key points more deeply. I liked his descriptions titled "One Who Paid Attention" that followed each chapter. May I be attentive in the manner of Mother Theresa, who considered herself "a contemplative in the midst of life", praying her work.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-09-27 00:00:00 Ultimate Uyever This was a book that I read as a part of a reading group that I'm in. I started reading it, not expecting much (shame on me!). Much to my surprise this was a tremendous read. Not only was it inspiring but it was also simply written with practical advice and steps on how to be more "attentive" to God. Ford uses his own life experiences to urge the reader to learn how to focus on God, at all times and in all things. We live such busy, overly sensitized lives, in which we rarely slow down to just simply "exist" and be with God. Ford argues, effectively, that we are missing out on so many incredible opportunities given to us from God because we cannot (or refuse to!) PAY ATTENTION. God's presence is all around us, in us, and through us, at all times. It is at our peril if we choose not to listen and discover this presence in our lives. God wants to bless us, speak to us, and guide our lives every day -- but we are so "cluttered" with busyness, distractions, and sensory overload that we often times fail to hear, see, experience, or worse, even seek God. It is time for all of us to recognize this and make changes in our lives. Ford provides excellent commentary on how to do this and the consequences if we do not; as he says early in the book, "Lord, show me what I am missing; open my eyes, that I may see."