July 3, 2025

Attention is a Limited Resource

in Reflections on the Life of Faith

Simplicity, a concept whose companions are focus, clarity, and lack of distraction.

For me, it also brings to mind a favorite quote from C.S. Lewis, which says, “We live in a world starved for solitude, silence, and privacy, and therefore starved for meditation and true friendship.”

That line comes from an essay of his called “Membership,” which he wrote in 1945. In that essay, he cites the still relatively new technology of the “wireless”—the radio—for stealing solitude and silence from us.

When I’ve reflected on that line, I compare it to the world we live in today. “Well,” I think, “if Lewis thought it was bad in 1945, he should see what it looks like now. With cell phones and the all-encompassing presence of social media, there’s even less silence in 2025 than there was in 1945.”

All of which is true, I suppose. The world probably is louder and noisier today than it was when Lewis wrote that essay, which means there are more ways to be distracted.

It is worth noting, though, that the genuine and real problem of distraction isn’t only about the external world in which we find ourselves. It is also about our interior world. And perhaps part of our calling as Christians is to curate enough solitude, silence and privacy in our lives that we can discover our true selves before God—and, through that discovery, develop more authentic relationships with others.

I got to thinking about this when I discovered a book called The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction by Jamie Kreiner.

Kreiner writes: “Distractedness was a kind of preexisting condition—internal, nonconscious, and entangled with the self—that compromised the very commitment to concentrating on things that were important and good. For Christian monks, distraction wasn’t just a potential interference. It had already breached the walls and made itself at home.” 

Another writer, drawing on insights from monk John Cassian, writes, “Because distraction stemmed from inner turmoil, it could not be corrected simply by avoiding certain stimuli. Monks had to tackle distraction systemically, and they saw it as their moral responsibility to do so.”

Medieval monks didn’t have the wireless. And they didn’t have mobile phones or social media. And yet, apparently even they struggled with the perennial problem of distraction. Even they struggled, in the words of C.S. Lewis, to find solitude, silence, and privacy.

Far from depressing us, this should be a reminder that we aren’t alone in working, with God’s help, to clear the clutter of our lives to become more focused on what really matters—regardless of the world in which we happen to find ourselves. And maybe an emphasis on simplicity—the theme of this issue—can allow us more fully be present to God.

Another way of saying all of this comes from author Howard Reingold, who writes, “Attention is a limited resource. So pay attention to where you pay attention.” To which I say, simply, Amen.

Undistractedly Yours,

• #attention
• #CS Lewis
• #distraction
• #silence
• #simplicity