The other day I wrote a post here on “Notes” entitled “THE LINGER”. It was about the importance of using my prayer space to reenergize from the rigors of ministry and from the burdens I felt in recent schedule changes
I asked two questions in that post.
The first question was… DOES CHANGE MAKE YOU TIRED OR DOES IT ENERGIZE YOU?
And the second question was….HOW MUCH OF YOUR PRAYER TIME IS SPENT LISTENING?
I got three great responses from that post which I want to share with you and then follow up with how I intentionally sought the linger.
Jane said…”I appreciate your reframed question from yesterday. I was wrestling with a response as I am one of those who is wired for change .. I love the flow and adventure of it. As to your question from today … my version is .. “how much of your/my time is spent listening?” (to myself, to others, to the world large and small, to God) .. a reminder I can need to receive rather than express. Thanks!”
Basia said… “Sometimes it’s hard just to be in the presence of God. for me the best times are during bouts of insomnia.“
Brenda said…I think change is exciting and challenging, therefore it is always emotionally exhausting. If you are excited for the new direction or adventure, there is still a crap ton of work to do to prepare the way so to speak…and if your new direction or adventure is a surprise to you that can feel like a heavy load to carry. It doesn’t mean you don’t understand or even like the change it is just….you have to work through it all. Change is good. Change helps us grow…growth most often is uncomfortable.
Change and growth are uncomfortable. I find they also take energy and so I need an intentional way of reenergizing. I think everyone reenergizes differently.
Some people reenergize by serving others
Some people reenergize by studying, by reading, by taking classes.
Some people reenergize by encouraging others and themselves towards higher achievement.
Some people reenergize by taking stock and restocking what was used, or by planning and organizing.
Some reenergize by fixing something that is broken.
Then there are those like me who reenergize by prayer and spiritual focus. Normally I can just sit on my front porch and slip easily into the prayer space. This week it has been harder. I find my mind continually wandering back to the worries of the day.
It is for this reason I have set aside some time this week to go to the worship room. The worship room is a ministry dedicated to 5days a week of prayer 4 hours each day.
I was able to set aside two one hour slots this week to just go and sit and listen to the voice of God. The change of location and method was enough to jar me out of my distraction and get me into the presence of God.
HOW DO YOU BREAK THE POWER OF DISTRACTION?
Notes From the Vicarage 
Excellent question. One i really need to think about I will come back to you. Distraction is obviously the polar opposite to focus. I can be 100 percent one or the other. But I’m not sure how I can myself focus. I can very easily be distracted. Sorry. I am thinking aloud as it were. I’ll stop now and come back to you, if I may
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Of course! I look forward to reading what you have to write when the thinking is done! 🙂
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How do I break the power of distractions … good question. In some circumstances – particularly those involving external commitments – having a deadline allows me to focus. Unfortunately, I’m not so good at setting this commitments, deadlines, and boundaries with “stuff” that is more internal to me, i.e. photography, reading, time in nature – things that I’m trying to weave into a “sabbatical” or nurturing aspect to my life. Keep working at it .. still looking for the magic key.
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I love the deadline idea. It does help me to have one. I wonder if there is a magic key or if it is more like a rig of keys.
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Good question – one key or several? At this point, for me, it appears to be a ring – with a few missing keys (wonder where I dropped them?). Perhaps the answer, the key, is just that – one key that I can use for myself as well as for other, external, commitments. Part of the reality is that these most of external commitments do feed my spirit and soul – my sense of wellbeing. And, I keep looking at my camera, bookshelves, piano, garden … and asking, when?
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I was with a parishioner last night who asked me what about my life was feeding my creative side. I do feel like I have shelved a lot of my creativity for this work. At the same time I feel like so many of my creative endeavors were just training for what I am doing now. I might get back to some of those more “creative” avenues eventually but right now I see that so many of the things I am involved in are “feeding my spirit” as you have so well put it.
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I just prayed with someone today about this very thing. The way my mind works with daily tasks…distraction is my friend not my enemy. It moves me from one thing to another and then back again. Some call it distraction…I call it refocussing. But I sense this is not what I prayed about it or what you are asking. I call it out in the name of Jesus….I breathe…..and refocus. I may have to move from where I am….because something around me is distracting me.So I withdraw to a quieter space.
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I am always in search of those quiet spaces. I love the sense you bring to this subject of how the distraction is part of the tide not an enemy of it.
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I try to remind myself of something I shared with people I worked with — be mindful of the “shoulds” and where these come from. I think that if/as I remove or quiet the self-imposed “shoulds” (i.e., I should do this in/for my community; I should be doing this for myself) and notice what is feeding my soul/spirit, I find the categories of things I’m doing (or should be doing) disappear – and rather, I notice the peace, satisfaction, flow that comes from seeing and sensing me and my life as a whole and not a set of boxes to be attended to. Are there things I’m not doing that I care about and enjoy – yes, but is that a problem given that my life is full of things I care about and enjoy? …. A quote from EB White comes to mind ..”…I arise in the morning torn between the desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” I think I’m finding a way to be aware of this, but not so torn by it.
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This is so good Jane! That space where improving and savoring become harmonized is such a tenuous and marvelous space to discover how to be in. Like you I am finding or trying to find a way that leads to deeper awareness without that frantic sensation of being overwhelmed by the sea of need.
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