The Attentive Life: Discerning God's Presence in All Things

Distractions and fear and busyness were keeping Leighton Ford from seeing God's work in and around him. So he began a journey of longing and looking for God. And it started with paying attention. In "The Attentive Life," he invites you to journey with him. Using the tradition of praying the hours, Ford walks with you to help you pay attention to God's work in your life. The way toward God starts with intention and attention--and eventually becomes a way of life, awake and alive to the peaceful, powerful presence of God.

Leighton Ford heads Leighton Ford Ministries, which seeks to help young leaders worldwide to lead more like Jesus and more to Jesus. For many years, Ford communicated Christ around the globe through speaking, writing and media outreach. He describes his current mission to be "an artist of the soul and a friend on the journey." He is the author of Transforming Leadership.

Your attention, please.

That's what God wants, Leighton Ford discovered. It's the path to becoming like Christ.

Distractions and fear and busyness were keeping Ford from seeing God's work in and around him. He was missing God. So he began a journey of longing and looking for God. And it started with paying attention.

In these pages, he invites you to journey with him. Using the rich tradition of praying the hours, Ford will walk with you, helping you pay attention to God's work in you and around you throughout each day and in different seasons of your life.

If you're busy, distracted, rushing through each day, you might be feeling disconnected from God, unable to see how he's working. You might be missing him. But the way toward him starts with a pause and a prayer--with intention and attention--and becomes a way of life, awake and alive to the peaceful, powerful presence of God.

Ford would seem an unlikely candidate to write a gentle, moving introduction to traditional monastic spirituality. As Billy Graham’s brother-in-law and frequent stand-in, Ford’s evangelical bona fides are unquestionable. Yet he describes the details of life at Mepkin Abbey, a Trappist monastery in South Carolina, with the eye of the avid amateur painter he also is. Reading this book you’ll find yourself scribbling down prayers from obscure medieval figures like a certain St. Fursey. Ford is also appealing as he describes odd gestures he’s willing to make in search of the God who’s present in the everyday: hugging a tree, hugging himself in an airport with passersby all around, revealing his own struggles with his image and how to pursue God rather than his own self-aggrandizement. He does make a distinctly Protestant addition to the tradition of monastic spirituality, insisting that the most rigorous of spiritual practices are for all believers. The few missteps are slight: Ford’s references to his heavy travel schedule and frequent vacations do threaten to make this feel like a spirituality for the upper-middle class only, and his readings of scripture tend to the emotive and literal. (May)Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

Average Rating:

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Reviewed by Anne Wenger (Columbia, SC), July 14, 2009

If you have found that your life is so full of activity that your attention is habitually divided and you can be easily distracted, this book will give you practical helps to learn to pay attention. That will influence your personal relationships, beginning with the most foundational one with God Himself. It was recommended to me, and I will definitely recommend it to others. It may not interest anyone who is not ready to focus on that which is of greatest value in life.

Reviewed by Cathie Sutfin (Las Vegas, NV), August 29, 2008

Leighton Ford must have been writing this book for me personally. I have been sharing his quotes and observations with other Christians, especially with my prayer and study groups. I first found "The Attentive Life" at my local library and quickly found I needed my own copy to contain my homework. Praying the hours is just what I needed to focus my attention on God's work in my life right now. I'm trying to find a way to incorporate this book as part of a study for my Women of Spirit group. I was unfamiliar with Leighton Ford but will probably seek out some of his other writings.

Reviewed by Marchien Marshall (Plainwell, MI), June 24, 2008

I have not finished the book. I am intrigued by the 'hour' time frame to set aside to pray, to 'pay attention' . Remember Daniel? Leighton Ford is not talking about rituals but 'awareness' of God's presence all throughout the day.Makes me wonder how much I have missed God, by not being 'attentive' enough. I highly recommend this book and have already recommended it to my friends.

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