[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Simone Weil, that strange and beautiful philosopher, simply called it \u201cattention.\u201d That was the key to the heart of things for her; \u201cattention,\u201d the mark of genuine Christianity, genuine philosophy, genuine religion. It was, for her, the only way to open oneself to the divine, everything else being something of a sham. \u201cThe quality of attention counts for much in the quality of prayer,\u201d she said. \u201cWarmth of heart cannot make up for it.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n This, of course, is simply ancient wisdom, the biblical wisdom that we must be still before we can know, the wisdom of God found in silence instead of noise.[2]<\/a> There is a silence necessary to achieve what some of the old desert monks called \u201cformless\u201d prayer, that perfect wordless prayer, that prayer that becomes seeing: God, the Father, his uncreated light\u2014that rare gift offered to all but received by few.[3]<\/a> That\u2019s what she meant by \u201cattention,\u201d\u00a0 that quiet silent stillness without which there is no such thing as Christianity and no knowledge of God at all.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s difficult, isn\u2019t it? Attention of any sort is difficult. Distraction has become a theme of the age; our already short attention span shortened even further by our phones. Some of us even get bored in church; we can\u2019t focus very much past the first reading; God bless us if we make it through the homily, long as those can get. We lose the thread very easily these days. Ours is not an age for attention. That\u2019s what we tell ourselves, what we say.<\/p>\n Yet it\u2019s not all that modern a problem. People have complained about the length of sermons for centuries. Paul killed a man preaching once; he went on so long the poor man fell asleep and broke his neck. Paul had to perform a miracle and raise him back to life, just to get out of there with his reputation.[4]<\/a> If you\u2019ll read many of the ancient Christian writers, the ancient desert fathers and monastics especially, you\u2019ll discover that so much of their struggle was simply a struggle to focus, a battle against boredom. What they were after was \u201csteadfastness of heart,\u201d the calm of prayer come only to those who stilled the \u201cwanderings of heart.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n So, you see it\u2019s not just a modern problem, more simply a human one. The distracted mind, the disheveled soul: none of it\u2019s new; rather it belongs to the human condition. They struggled then, we today, and in much the same way. Struggling for stillness: that\u2019s what we\u2019re after. It\u2019s what we\u2019ve been after all along.<\/p>\n Now the reason this struggle is important (this is where I think the ancients are wiser) is that when you lose focus, \u201cattention,\u201d \u201csteadfastness,\u201d well then (as the desert fathers would put it), the demons come. These are the demons of the mind, the logismoi<\/em>, the \u201cwicked thoughts;\u201d they called them \u201cdemons,\u201d the demon of anger, the demon of lust, the demon of greed, the demon of pride. This is why Christians should strive for \u201csteadfastness of heart;\u201d because otherwise, the demons come, the mind conquered by all the evil of the world. In centuries past they wrestled with demons in the desert; now we wrestle with them online. Nonetheless, the battle is the same, so too the strategy. The reason we should strive for \u201csteadfastness of heart\u201d is because if we don\u2019t, the demons come. It\u2019s that so many of us don\u2019t see this that\u2019s the problem.<\/p>\n But how do we fight distraction? What can we do when temptation comes? The ancients developed what they called the \u201cantirrh\u00eatic\u201d method (which just means \u201ctalking back\u201d); the idea was that whenever you had a bad thought enter your mind, you would (to quote Saint Benedict) \u201cdash them against Christ.\u201d[6]<\/a> Many of the fathers would assign various verses of scripture for particular temptations. John Cassian, for example, liked the verse, \u201cO God, make speed to save me: O Lord, make haste to help me.\u201d He said you should write it on the door of your mouth and nail it to the wall of your heart, for it was good for almost every challenge.[7]<\/a><\/p>\n Now this is really practical advice, not esoteric at all. Answering temptations with the words and wisdom of scripture, dashing wicked thoughts against Christ: it\u2019s not a bad idea; in many ways it really works. And it\u2019s what Jesus did, battling Satan in the desert. \u201cIt is written,\u201d he says to the devil each time he opens his mouth, until the devil left him and \u201cangels came and ministered to him.\u201d[8]<\/a> As Simone Weil said, \u201cIf at the moment when the soul is invaded by evil the attention can be turned toward a thing of perfect purity.\u201d[9]<\/a> This, in the Christian tradition, means scripture, the word of God, sacramental beauty. And it\u2019s how the ancient story of Jesus\u2019 temptation in the wilderness is all the sudden relevant, because here we discover what Jesus wants us to do in the face of temptation. And that\u2019s rely on him and on the power of his word, and nothing else.<\/p>\n But here are the crucial questions: Do you know the word of God? Do you know scripture? What\u2019s your verbal environment? What\u2019s the media you have bouncing around in your head, the Bible or ESPN; Facebook or adoration? Can you tell me all about the latest series on Netflix you\u2019re \u201cbinge-watching\u201d but nothing substantial about the gospels? How much of your mind, your attention, have you actually given to God?<\/p>\n It\u2019s not uncommon for me to meet someone in some sort of spiritual crisis, doubting God or the faith or something like that. And almost always, the most honest thing I can say is, \u201cWell, it makes sense.\u201d I mean, of course you\u2019ve fallen into doubt and despair, stupidity and sin\u2014look at what you\u2019ve been looking at. \u201cIf at the moment when the soul is invaded by evil the attention can be turned toward a thing of perfect purity.\u201d But you\u2019ve never read the Bible; the most you can say is something like, \u201cI went to Catholic school\u201d like it\u2019s some sort of mantra or extended warranty.<\/p>\n What\u2019s your verbal environment? Do you really know the word of God? There\u2019s a reason the devil plays you like a punk; because you\u2019re in the desert, and you\u2019ve forgotten the word of God. That\u2019s our modern dilemma: not smart phones or politics, it\u2019s that we\u2019ve lost the vernacular, the idioms, the grammar of God; it\u2019s that we don\u2019t speak the Christian language anymore and are therefore cut off from the moral and spiritual resources necessary to be human, much less Christian. It\u2019s that we can no longer focus on truth, only noise.<\/p>\n These then are the first questions of Lent: Do you know the word of God? Can you focus upon the word of God? Even a little? Have you ever tried? These are the first invitations of Lent, and likewise the first fair warnings of Lent. Live upon the word of God, upon \u201cevery word that comes from the mouth of God,\u201d Jesus told the devil.[10]<\/a> This is still good advice. It\u2019s actually very important advice, important for everyone in here.<\/p>\n Because whether you know it or not, you\u2019re in the desert, and the demons have come. And how will you be able to call upon the angels for help if you don\u2019t speak the language? Amen<\/em>.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Simone Weil, Waiting for God<\/em>, 105<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Psalm 46:11<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Evagrius Ponticus, Chapters on Prayer<\/em> 117 passim<\/em><\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Acts 20:7-12<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> John Cassian, The Conferences<\/em> 10.14<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Jean-Charles Nault, The Noonday Devil<\/em>, 40; The Rule of Saint Benedict<\/em> 4.50<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> The Conferences<\/em> 10.10<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Matthew 4:1-11<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> Waiting for God<\/em>, 190<\/p>\n