Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Attention Getter


A few years ago, our mission team was headed to Arizona to work on the Apache reservation. We had arrived at the Atlanta airport and our group was waiting for me to give them some check-in instructions once I talked with the airline. Once I knew our plan, I walked over to our team and said (somewhat loudly), “If everyone would gather over here, I’ll tell you what we need to do next.” Thankfully, our team responded well and moved in closer to hear me. The unexpected result of my announcement was that another ten travelers moved closer to our group as well even though they had no idea who I was. Apparently my voice was enough to get their attention and pull them in to our conversation.

This had me thinking about what it takes to get our attention. What conditions have to be right for us to notice a change in our surroundings? How focused do we need to be on what’s happening around us to detect something new? Does it take great tragedy to get our attention? Is there a need within us to hear something different? Much like the people in the airport, we can be moved by a voice which commands our attention. The question is what voice we let speak to us in a way that pulls us away from our current path.

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