{"id":61284,"date":"2026-03-15T23:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T05:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/?p=61284"},"modified":"2026-03-15T23:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T05:10:09","slug":"sacrament-of-attention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/publicsquaremag.org\/media-education\/technology\/sacrament-of-attention\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sacrament of Attention"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/picture> Download Print-Friendly Version<\/a><\/p>\n

We live, increasingly, in two places at once.<\/span><\/p>\n

Our bodies sit at a dinner table while our minds hover in an open browser tab. Our hands fold for prayer while our thumbs remember the muscle memory of scrolling. We attend a child\u2019s story, a spouse\u2019s worry, a friend\u2019s quiet confession\u2014and yet some part of us remains tethered to the possibility that something else, somewhere else, is happening.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is not merely a productivity problem, nor only a \u201ckids these days\u201d technology complaint. It is, at its core, an attention problem\u2014and attention is not a neutral resource. It is one of the most consequential forms of agency we exercise all day long.<\/span><\/p>\n

They aren\u2019t only tools; they are portable exit doors.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>
\nSo here is the thesis I want to offer, gently but clearly: presence is not just mindfulness; it is discipleship. When the restored gospel invites us to live with <\/span>\u201c<\/span>an eye single to the glory of God<\/span><\/a>,\u201d<\/span> it is teaching more than religious focus in a narrow sense\u2014it is teaching a whole way of inhabiting our lives, our relationships, and our worship with wholeness, clarity, and spiritual availability. <\/span>And if that framing feels lofty, good. It should. But it should also feel doable\u2014because the gospel rarely asks us to be impressive; it asks us to be <\/span>awake<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whatever captures your attention quietly shapes your discipleship.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

The Attention Crisis We Don\u2019t Like to Name<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There are obvious culprits\u2014busy schedules, social media, the breakneck speed of modern life. But those are surface-level symptoms of something deeper: what we might call the tyranny of elsewhere.<\/span><\/p>\n

The tyranny of elsewhere is the subtle assumption that <\/span>real life is happening somewhere other than where you are right now<\/span><\/i>\u2014in the next message, the next headline, the next update, the next comparison, the next microdose of novelty. It is a form of spiritual displacement. You are always near your life, but not quite inside it.<\/span><\/p>\n

And because it\u2019s socially normalized, it rarely feels like rebellion. It feels like being informed. Being connected. Being responsive. Being \u201con top of things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the gospel\u2019s vision of a holy life is not primarily about being \u201con top of things.\u201d It is about being in things\u2014fully, faithfully, consecratedly present.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAn Eye Single\u201d: Attention as a Spiritual Faculty<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In Doctrine and Covenants 88, the Lord gives an arresting promise: \u201cIf your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light.\u201d That promise is recorded in <\/span>Doctrine and Covenants 88:67<\/span><\/a>. He then adds the kind of line we might read quickly, even though it should stop us: \u201cSanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God.\u201d That instruction appears in <\/span>Doctrine and Covenants 88:68<\/span><\/a>. This echoes <\/span>Matthew 6:22<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Doctrine and Covenants 82:19<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Notice what\u2019s happening doctrinally.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u201cSingle\u201d is not merely \u201cserious.\u201d\u00a0 It is not just intensity. It is integrity\u2014<\/span>wholeness<\/span><\/i>. A mind that is not fragmented into ten anxious windows, a heart that is not constantly split between reverence and restlessness.<\/span>
    \n<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Light is not only a reward; it is a capacity.\u00a0 The promise is not merely that God will be pleased. The promise is that you will become the kind of person who can receive, discern, and \u201ccomprehend.\u201d Attention is the mechanism that God gives us for receiving that growth from Him.<\/span>
    \n<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Sanctification includes attention training. Sanctification comes through the Holy Ghost as we repent and keep covenants. When the Lord says, \u201csanctify yourselves,\u201d He does not only mean \u201cstop doing bad things.\u201d He also means \u201cbecome the kind of person whose inner life is ordered toward God\u201d so we live in a way that the Holy Ghost can dwell with us.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In that sense, presence is not cosmetic. It is covenantal.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Mindfulness, but With a Name and a Direction<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    It\u2019s worth acknowledging: the modern mindfulness movement has rediscovered something true. Purposeful attention in the present moment\u2014focus, concentration, awareness\u2014really does change us. Many people feel, correctly, that distraction is costly.<\/span><\/p>\n

    In fact, research has repeatedly found that <\/span>when our minds wander<\/span><\/a> away from what we\u2019re doing, our happiness tends to drop\u2014even when we wander to \u201cpleasant\u201d thoughts. <\/span>And intriguingly, other research suggests that many of us find it so uncomfortable to be alone with our own thoughts\u2014even for a few minutes\u2014that we will <\/span>choose almost any stimulation<\/span><\/a> rather than simply sit, reflect, and attend to the interior world.<\/span><\/p>\n

    So yes, mindfulness is real.<\/span><\/p>\n

    But the gospel adds something essential: mindfulness is not only attention to the present; it is attention consecrated toward God and toward people. It is presence with purpose\u2014awareness shaped by love, gratitude, worship, and covenant loyalty. <\/span>Or to say it plainly: disciples don\u2019t just \u201clive in the moment.\u201d They learn to live in the moment <\/span>with God<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Distraction as a Form of Spiritual Avoidance<\/strong><\/h3>\n

    If presence is the practice, what is distraction\u2014spiritually speaking?<\/p>\n

    Often, distraction is not primarily laziness. It is avoidance.<\/span><\/p>\n