Summary

Despite its title, this essay is an elaboration of Weil’s concept of attention. For her, the key to understanding the Christian notion of contemplative study lies in the realization that prayer amounts to an effort of attention. Attention here is the orientation of the individual soul toward God and the highest, most focused acts of attention provide contact with God. While tasks related to school studies can only ever develop lower types of attention they do exercise the faculty and power of attention and are therefore worth further reflection. No act of genuine attention is ever wasted. It always has an effect on both the soul and the intellect and these efforts of attention, however big or small, are indicative of real, genuine desire.

Weil’s...