… Between what happens to you and what you do about it lies a space.
This practice teaches you how to find it, expand it, and use it…
The Practice
1. NOTICE with contemplative awareness what is present in this moment.
2. PAUSE to create sacred space for wisdom to emerge before responding.
3. RESPOND from integrated awareness with wise, heart-centered action.
4. REPEAT this rhythm throughout your day, allowing it to become a natural way of being.
What Makes Sacred Noticing Different
You’ve likely practiced mindfulness. Perhaps you pray contemplatively. Maybe you’ve developed your own ways of staying present.
Sacred Noticing honors what you already do while offering something more: a complete cycle from awareness through wisdom to action. It’s not mindfulness alone. It’s not contemplation in isolation. It’s spiritual awareness in action—integrating all three into one flowing movement designed for the messy beauty of everyday life.
Most practices excel at one thing:
• Mindfulness develops present-moment awareness
• Contemplative prayer opens space for reflection
• Decision frameworks guide wise action
Sacred Noticing weaves them into a single practice. Because genuine spiritual awareness can’t stop at noticing. It must move through wisdom into response. And that response must arise from something deeper than reaction.
How It Works in Real Life
The Method:
NOTICE with contemplative awareness what is present.
• See beyond automatic assumptions and habitual interpretations
• Ask: What else might be true that I’m not seeing?
• Approach familiar moments with fresh eyes
• Notice both the outer situation and your inner response without judgment
PAUSE to create sacred space before responding.
• Use the Three-Breath Method: Take three conscious breaths, feel your feet on the ground, ask “What does this moment need from me?”
• Interrupt automatic reactions and create space for wisdom
• Remain open to what wants to emerge without forcing
• The pause isn’t emptiness—it’s fullness, presence, possibility
RESPOND from integrated awareness with wise action.
• Let your response arise from the wisdom accessed in the pause
• Choose responses that serve the whole situation, not just immediate reactions
• Your response may be words, actions, or continued presence—whatever serves best
• Sometimes the wisest response is not to respond, but to remain present
Yellow Light Moments
Throughout your day, countless opportunities invite you to choose conscious response over automatic reaction. Like traffic lights signaling a chance to slow down, these yellow light moments are everywhere:
• The phone ringing—take one breath before answering
• Email notifications—notice your inner response before clicking
• Transitions between tasks—reset your presence
• Someone’s words triggering reaction—choose response over reactivity
• Difficult conversations—create space for wisdom to emerge
These moments sanctify the ordinary. Every transition offers a thin place where conscious presence can break through habitual response.
Getting Started
Begin small. Choose one routine activity today—morning coffee, walking to your car, a familiar conversation. Bring the three movements to that single moment.
Be patient. What feels deliberate at first becomes intuitive. Trust the practice to work in you as you work with the practice.
Expect sensitivity. Sacred Noticing increases awareness of both beauty and pain. This isn’t a flaw—it’s genuine spiritual development. Practice sacred self-compassion.
Let it integrate. The fruits of Sacred Noticing appear in daily life—in the quality of your presence, the depth of your relationships, the wisdom of your responses.
A Practice for All
Sacred Noticing emerges from the Franciscan tradition of seeing the sacred in all creation. It draws from Centering Prayer, Lectio Divina, and Celtic spirituality—yet remains accessible to all.
Whether you practice contemplative prayer, meditation, or neither, this method provides everything you need to cultivate presence and wisdom in daily life. You need not hold particular beliefs to benefit, though the practice deepens and enriches faith for those who bring their spiritual commitments to it.
What This Practice Offers
Sacred Noticing transforms:
• Automatic reactions into conscious responses
• Ordinary moments into sacred encounters
• Scattered awareness into integrated presence
• Reactive living into wisdom in action
This is not quick-fix spirituality. It’s a lifelong practice of increasing awareness, deepening wisdom, and more conscious living. The practice doesn’t make life easier—it makes you more present to life as it is, with all its beauty and pain, challenge and grace.
The Transformation
Once you begin truly seeing, you cannot unsee.
Once you taste the wisdom available in the pause, reactivity loses its grip.
Once you experience the freedom of conscious response, automatic patterns lose their power.
This is both the promise and the challenge of contemplative awareness.
Begin Now
The invitation is simple: Notice. Pause. Respond. Repeat.
Begin where you are with what you have. Every moment contains the possibility of awakening. Thin places are everywhere, waiting only for your awakened presence to reveal them.
Coming Soon: The Practice of Sacred Noticing – A complete guide to this contemplative method for daily life.
Sacred Noticing is offered as a gift. Share it freely. (Click to download)
When teaching or writing about Sacred Noticing, a simple attribution is appreciated:
Copyright 2025 Michael J. Cunningham OFS