Is This a Worthy Interruption? (Disciplined: week 4)

I know, it’s kind of ironic to send a message that may be distracting you from whatever you were in the middle of, right after a message about attention. 

I’ve been thinking about it a lot, actually – how we make sure that the things we ask you, the people of Foothills, to pay attention to are truly worthy of that attention. 

It’s one of the reasons I decided to start using these weekly emails to send the podcast, readings, music, and resources from Sunday – because we hope that Sunday is a space where we explore things that are most worthy of this limited, precious resource of attention – and so whatever we can do to invite us to go deeper, and to keep reflecting, even a few days after Sunday has passed – it’ll be worth it. 

This coming Sunday is the last in our Disciplined series.  Which means we’re nearing the end of our collective practices invitation….so maybe you’re wondering….now what?

Whenever we try out a new commitment, or challenge ourselves to grow in new ways –it’s natural and important to consider how the experience has changed us, what it has opened in us, and what it would take to sustain and deepen these learnings, as our 4th principle said, “in our free and disciplined search for truth and meaning.”

Kristen will be preaching, the choir will be singing at 8:30 and 10, and we will be saying goodbye and thank you to our Office Manager, Kathryn Boyle. And most importantly, there will be current and future friends eager to help you – as I said on Sunday – stay put, and breathe, and pay attention.  See you there. 8:30, 10, or 11:30.
 
In partnership,
Rev. Gretchen

Notes from Disciplined: Week 4 – Paying Attention
Listen to the message

Music
Divisionary (Do the Right Thing) by Ages and Ages
I Am Finding My Way
Love Has Already Won

Practices 
Share in a collective practice using our Disciplined Practice Guide. 
In our 11:30, we experienced our Prayer Bead practice together, which you can find on page 3 of the Guide or in this audio recording. 
Text COMMIT to 970-00 to be a part of our tips and reminders throughout the series

Text
From the Benediction, Mary Oliver’s poem Sometimes
Article from the Onion on the Guy on the Verge of Having Fun
The Cure for It All by Julia Fehrenbacher 

Resources
Your Attention is a Finite Resource (article)
The language of “Paying Attention” 
Deep Work by Cal Newport (a book filled with incredibly useful tips for managing your attention) 
Victoria Safford’s gorgeous Sermon on the Ethics of Attention

Remember The world today needs us, more than ever, to pay attention with intention to that which is truly worthy – as an act of love.What are you setting your heart to? 

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