Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. Philippians 2:4
“To live charity in a way that becomes ever more refined and heroic, it will be necessary for us to apply this approach right down to the smallest and least important details of daily life… At times it will mean taking real interest in what people are saying; at other times it will be putting aside our own personal concerns so as to give our attention to the people we live with. It will mean not getting annoyed about what are really trivia, not being touchy, making people feel welcome. We will have to help others in a way they may not notice but which lightens their burden, to pray to God for them, for example, when they are in need, to avoid having a critical spirit towards them and always to be grateful to them… All of these things are within the reach and scope of each one of us… If we give attention to little things, we will live each day to the full, and will know how to fill each moment with the sense of preparation for eternity.
Francis Fernandez in In Conversation with God: Meditations for Each Day of the Year, volume 3 (London: Scepter, 1990) 529.
My wife will appreciate this one, and my children and extended family, too.
It’s easy to give insufficient attention to those around us. It’s called taking them for granted. That phrase actually means “to fail to properly appreciate someone or something often as a result of overfamiliarity.”
Fernandez rightly challenges us to to include “attention” as part of our giving to those around us.
For those of us with room to grow in this area, let’s aim for “refined and heroic” living. Let’s lean into what it means to “give attention” to those around us in the last two months of this year.
Let’s do this so our family really feels like we are fully present with them.
And as today is All Saints Day, the day we remember those who have gone to be with the Lord, let’s live this way (as Fernandez alerts us) to prepare for the fellowship we will enjoy together for eternity.