Belden C. Lane, in The Solace of Fierce Landscapes, writes of the practice of attention as a spiritual exercise. He relates the following story:

An Egyptian desert monk, seeking a sign of divine approval for many years of monastic devotion, was told that his holiness was nothing compared to that of a common grocer in a nearby town. The monk went to observe the man. He found him occupied with his vegetables amid the noise and hurry of the streets, attentive to the needs of all those coming to him. Even as night came on, with the people growing rowdy, singing loudly in the streets, the grocer stayed at his task.

In exasperation, the monk finally blurted out, "How can you ever pray with noise like this?" The grocer looked around, and he said, “I tell myself they're all going to the kingdom.” He continued, “They're concentrating with single-minded attention on what they do, singing songs with all the joy they can muster. See how they prepare for the kingdom of God without even knowing it! How can I do less myself than to praise in silence the God they inadvertently celebrate in song?'”

The aged monk walked slowly back to his cell. He knew himself to have received — from a grocer — an important lesson in spiritual attentiveness.