I’m a regular listener to Ezra Klein’s podcast, but when Mako Fujimura emailed this episode to Amilee and me the day it came out, I knew it would be good.
LISTEN TO: Your Mind is Being Fracked // Read Transcript
Klein’s interview with D. Graham Burnett, a historian of science at Princeton University, offers a window into the deeper aspects of human consciousness and this thing we call “attention.” They dissected the malaise of our modern lives, filled with distractions that pull us away from being attentive. During the interview, Burnett refers to French philosopher Bernard Stiegler: “For Stiegler, attention is waiting on the disclosure of those long webs of connectedness, which are a mirroring of our own infinitude in the world. Attention, infinite waiting….” This was profound. Attention is waiting to connect our present moment for a meaningful connection to infinity. It reminded me of the Ecclesiastes passage “God set eternity in our hearts.”
In our dislocated, virtual, information-saturated world, the practice of prayer as attentiveness to God is not just essential but integral to our daily lives. It provides a reintegration amidst the chaos, offering a sense of peace and purpose. More than that, it reminds us that the locus of meaning and coherence is found in God’s abiding presence and redemptive purposes. This is a practice that we, as a spiritual community, hold dear and need to encourage each other to increasingly embrace.
We need to move towards a more holistic understanding and practice of prayer—a kind of prayer that the apostle Paul says does not cease. This kind of prayer is not just about asking or receiving but about being and becoming—being present with God and becoming increasingly attuned to His presence in all things. This growing attentiveness to God transforms how we live, work, and interact with others, fostering a deeper spiritual connection and a more profound sense of meaning and connectedness. This kind of what I’ll call “Attentive Prayer” is an act of being attentive to God in all aspects of our lives and does not come naturally but is what the Gospel uniquely avails to us.
Prayer, as Burnett implies, is about cultivating a constant awareness of the divine presence. At Goldenwood, we believe that this form of prayer not only transforms our relationship with God, but it is what is needed to bring redemptive healing to our world. It is not confined to moments of solitude or silence (though this often catalyzes it) but extends into every interaction and experience. By being attentive, we connect the sacred to the ordinary and the divine to the mundane.