A Practice of Presence
Back to School, Back to Attention:
A Practice of Presence
August always has that particular energy of transition. Backpacks appear in store aisles. Schedules reassert themselves. The loose, unhurried days of summer give way to something more structured. And even those of us long past school age feel it—the internal shift from wandering time to purposeful time.
I've been thinking about what spiritual practice is most needed in seasons of transition. And I keep coming back to the same answer: presence. The ability to actually be here, in this moment, rather than perpetually rehearsing the next one.
THE SCATTERED MIND
The research on attention is startling. Studies suggest that we spend nearly half our waking hours thinking about something other than what we're actually doing. We are physically present and mentally elsewhere—replaying the past, pre-living the future, scrolling through our anxieties like a newsfeed.
This is not a moral failure. It is the nature of an untrained mind. And training the mind—which is really what most spiritual practice is—takes patience and repetition. It takes the same commitment we give to physical health. A little, regularly, over time.
A SIMPLE PRACTICE FOR BUSY DAYS
Here is a practice from the Christian contemplative tradition called "the sacred pause." Three times a day—morning, midday, and evening—you stop for just sixty seconds. You breathe. You notice where you are and what you feel. You offer a one-sentence prayer. Then you return.
You might anchor it to something you already do. Before your first cup of coffee. Before you eat lunch. Before you turn out the light. The pause itself is the prayer.
Simone Weil wrote that attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. When we bring full attention to a moment—to a person, to a task, to God—we are giving something irreplaceable. This fall, may we practice giving that gift.
What practices help you stay present? I'd love to hear what works for you.
Go make peace, my friends.
Pastor Leanne
Community Presbyterian Church
32202 Del Obispo
San Juan Capistrano. CA 92675
949-493-1502
info@sjcpres.org