paying attention

"You have seen many things, but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing" Isaiah 42:20
How often is this true in my everyday life! I'm reading the paper and Daniel speaks to me; somehow I answer, but didn't really listen. I drive along the road to a familiar destination and realize that I haven't seen anything along the way and wondered how I got so far without paying attention.
How much do I do this with God, the master of intelligent design? How much do I miss out on His soft whisperings? I'm afraid that if we don't listen to His soft whisperings, in order to get the message a storm may need to pass our way.
The end of this chapter in Isaiah tells what happened to Israel because they didn't take time to see and listen: "So he poured out on them his burning anger, the violence of war. It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand, it comsumed them, but they did not take it to heart." Isaiah 42: 25.
More than ever, now I have the time to see and listen. I am no longered burdened with the incessant cares of the heavy teaching load, the constant demands on my time and brain. I want to slow down, to really see and listen.