In the person of Jesus, we see this divine quality of self-emptying lived out in everything he says and does. The attention is always off himself towards those he is healing, towards those he is teaching, and ultimately, always towards his Father. He is not pointing to himself and saying, ‘Look at me, elect me or treat me as your guru.’ He is constantly pointing away from himself and that is why we can trust and follow him. So this emptying that takes place in meditation is the work of attention. Because as we lay aside our thoughts and words and imagination, we are beginning and learning to pay attention to God without images, ideas or projection. And something mysterious and marvellous happens as we enter into that experience, which is that the Word of God is born in us, the Eternal Word comes to birth in us and begins to transform us and to divinise us.
( Attention and Love 1 by Laurence Freeman OSB )
