For Those Paying Attention. Thank You

by

Paying Attention
“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.”-Simone Weil

It’s the quote I’ve been scratching on each new thank you note I’ve written since my latest brain shunt surgery not even three weeks ago.

I’m sitting on the back patio watching the desert sun sink westward through a hedge of sagebrush, a lime tree laden with bright green citrus and a large prickly pear. It’s mid November, and I am just now feeling the coolness of a fall night whisper against my bare skin. I will need a hoodie soon. It’s day 442 in Tucson, and I still catch my breath at the wonder of it all. I’d finally deleted North Canton, Ohio from the weather app on my phone, but I remember how quickly autumn turns to winter there. This morning a friend sent me a text saying it was in the fifties but will be snowing tonight and the low temperature in the teens. The blood in my heart froze, a kind of PTSD remembering how a pressure change like that could level me for days and how every year I wondered how I would hold on until I could fly away like a bird to this sun setting behind these mountains.

Even in this peace there is a cacophony of sounds begging me to listen. A coyote howling on the Catalina side of Oracle road. A family of quail making their way home for the night. A dog barking in the cul de sac across the big wash. A neighbor in the front whistling as he puts out the trash. Road noise as people make their way home from work. My faithful husband washing dishes just inside the screen door. And the softer sound the wind makes in the low lying plants and trees.

Each one begs attention.

My phone, often plugged in beside my bed on silent, is beside me now. My sister hit a deer this afternoon. I’m waiting to hear from her. A friend is very ill. I’m waiting for any kind of update. There is an inbox of emails full of mostly junk and some things I will need to address. I really should check before bed in case there’s something school related for the girls I need to know. There are Instagram and facebook apps on my homescreen. I’ve not checked them for hours, and I didn’t post today. They are the loudest, right? Shouting the never ending cry, “Pay attention to me.”

There’s the news. I try to avoid it. But it’s Veterans Day, and I should watch. I hope for a story of courage and kindness tonight. Monday night football begins early here. My Dan has so few things that relax him a little and bring him joy. It will be a good game. I should sit next to him and snuggle for awhile. He needs his wife’s attention. Danica is learning to crochet. She’s been out to ask me if I can help her order yarn and a different size hook on Amazon with birthday money. She needs my attention. Laney is in her room working on homework and art. She painted her Hydroflask brilliantly and now she has requests from her friends. Next November her room will be empty. I will not be able to knock on her door and lie on her bed for a few minutes just to talk. I will text her or call her or direct message her and hope she has a moment in her new college life to pay me a little attention.

Every day, every moment of the day, we are distracted, moving on quickly, our neuro pathways branching off in a hundred different ways. We watch short video clips, scroll ads, click to buy, forward a gif…QUICKLY, you have three seconds. If I’m not entertained or intrigued or appalled you’ve lost me. It’s why most of my brilliant writer friends quit blogging. The story never gets a true arc anymore. You’ve got to have a good picture and a staccato of words with an instant take away. Grab me. Give me something I can use NOW or I’ve got to scroll on. Maybe it’s why I’ve quit writing here too. What’s my word count now? No one will probably even make it this far in.

It’s almost dark. The birds are getting noisier. More coyotes have joined the chorus. The stars will be clear and bright soon. In Ohio the clouds are pressing down, but I will see Orion’s belt before I sleep.

Thank you friends.

Thank you for not looking away.
Thank you for praying.
Thank you for giving.
Thank you for giving again.
Thank you for sharing our story with someone new who met a different need.
Thank you for receiving from us knowing it’s a ripple of someone else’s love.
Thank you for trusting us to sit in your own fires.
Thank you for inviting us even when we can rarely show up.
Thank you for showing up because we can’t come to you.

Thank you for paying attention to the suffering and the dazzling Shekinah glory in our wounds.
This paying attention is rare and pure, and we are saved by it.
We will never stop thanking you.

I am healing slowly. The past few days I’ve not kept any food in my tummy. My stitches on my head and neck are raw. I’m not sleeping well or at all. But I’m so alive. I don’t have a headache. I’m born again like each time before when I was saved from the crushing pain. And you are part of this story over a decade old.

I read Shannan Martin’s ‘The Ministry of Ordinary Places’ for the fifth time this weekend. I pulled it out to find a marked quote for the book I’m writing about giving and receiving and all the kinds of currency we’ve lived and been loved by…more gift and less gauntlet. Once again I couldn’t put her story away. At the end of chapter seventeen, titled ‘The Discipleship of Sticking Around’, she writes:

Just as Jesus instructs us through parables, we lead by our stories. I want the search party story. The lighthouse story. The living-at-the-end-of-myself story, where I link arms with the ones I love, and we stand together, one foot jammed against the cross, the other on the cold, stone floor of the empty tomb. I want a story of beating heart interdependence with the saints around me, sharpening each other as we walk together through life, every day a bit closer to the heart of our Father.

I want to stay stuck in the story of God, shaping my last splinter of hope into a sturdy lifeboat, a bridge worn smooth by His goodness, a faith that’s warp proof.

This is long haul discipleship.
This is why we stay.

Thank you for staying friends.
Our Hope remains.

You might also like

7 Comments on For Those Paying Attention. Thank You

  1. Robyn
    November 12, 2019 at 12:03 am (4 years ago)

    I read the whole thing. Promise. Xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

    Reply
  2. Lisa Janowiak
    November 12, 2019 at 8:22 am (4 years ago)

    Sweet Monica, I love your way with words! Please do not stop writing! You inspire and bless so many with your beautiful descriptions of life! Thank you!

    Reply
  3. Caryn
    November 12, 2019 at 5:26 pm (4 years ago)

    I always read all your words—you are such a gifted communicator. ❤️
    Thought of you today when I saw the weather report, and thanked the Lord for his tender mercies in moving you West.

    Reply
  4. Diane McElwain
    November 12, 2019 at 6:04 pm (4 years ago)

    Love you, Monica. We are keeping your family in our prayers.

    Reply
  5. June
    November 12, 2019 at 9:02 pm (4 years ago)

    I’m guilty of not reading as much online as I used to because, well, spoons. But your words? I read. Every.one. I’m so glad you’re writing a book. May God give you the strength. He has already given you the words. Thankful for your healing and days without the raging pain. Courage, dearheart. He is with us. The battle is already won.

    Reply
  6. Susan M Barone
    November 12, 2019 at 9:46 pm (4 years ago)

    I will pray for you as you heal and for your family as Delaney goes from HS to college. (Already?! lol) Yes, Ohio – yikes! I can’t imagine how the weather changes affected you. FMS and cold weather are at odds with each other. Dayton is hovering in the 20s after 60 degree temps on — I think it was — Sunday. Thankfully my physical therapist today told me my neck is doing well even though I woke with pangs and debated whether I needed a triptan or a muscle relaxer. I just wish that translated to mean: no headaches. I would love no headaches and no migraines. I’m so happy that you are in such a gorgeous place — that sunset! — and doing well, even as you heal after surgery. You are my favorite writer so please do not stop writing. The ones who can’t stick around will miss the blessing of you.

    Reply
  7. Carol
    November 13, 2019 at 3:30 am (4 years ago)

    Your writing is beautiful. Please don’t ever stop. I read all the words. They are woven together in such a way that they are like a work of art. A gift the Lord has given you. And one that also helps others.

    Reply

Leave a reply to Lisa Janowiak Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.