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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rev Canon Dr Jennifer Smith, Superintendent Minister of Wesley’s Chapel and Leysian Mission

Good morning.

As a child, I well remember being told by a succession of frustrated adults to ‘pay attention.’ And I did ‘pay attention,’ more or less. I still do. We all do, more and less.

We pay attention to the news, to the radio and television, to our family members and our friends. Sometimes it’s prudent to pay more attention to one and less to the other! In these days of lockdown, I hope we pay attention to government advice, to news of illness and healing, and perhaps a bit more than has been usual, to our neighbours. This is good.

Certainly if we’re wise, we pay attention to the aches and pains of our bodies, as we take care of ourselves. Sometimes, something holds our attention because it takes up so much space in the public imagination, and either delights or frightens us; sometimes it’s the absence of activity when we expect it, a silence, that catches our attention.

In the midst of it all, God pays attention to us. To small things, and large ones. And perhaps, God asks us to day-dream a little too? It seems to me that day dreaming may be part of the attention we pay to God, and to the world around us.

In my experience the best church sermons have three minutes of day dreaming built in, which some might argue could be cut – it’s just that it’s a different three minutes for each one who listens.

Day dreaming is no bad thing in these days of important news, and not just for children.

Holy God, hear us when we call to you, listen to our cry. Direct our attention to good things today, and show us how to dream.

Amen.

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