HEARTLIGHT®: Two Minute Meditations: "Everybody Needs an Attaway"

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Everybody Needs an Attaway, by Phil Ware

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Do you have one?

Have you given one to someone you love?

We all need an attaway every-now-and-then. Unfortunately there don’t seem to be enough of them to go around right now.

How do I know? Look into the eyes of those around you. Notice the lack of security in so many hearts. See the hesitation and doubt in the lives of those who work around you. So many people second-guess what they are doing and are so afraid of failing.

We live in an incredibly negative and competitive society. The result has been a serious decline in the number of attaways. So much so that in most environs, attaways are on the endangered species list. This is a serious problem because marriages, families, and workplaces are severely compromised in their effectiveness, joy, and productivity because of the decline in attaways.

But even with attaways being in such short supply, some folks seem to be able to find them. My wife Donna is one of those people. She is an incredible scavenger for attaways. She seems to be able to find them when many other folks cannot. In fact, I learned the importance of attaways from her. Even though a few had been given to me when I was a kid in sports, it took a loving wife and fantastic first grade teacher to help me really understand how important attaways are. She’s even helped me learn to find them.

“What in the world is an attaway?” You may be asking by now. I’m sure you’ve seen one given. Hopefully you’ve received more than a few yourself. In fact, I bet you’ve even given a few attaways in your time.

“Attaway to go! You really did a good job on that project!”
“Attaway to be, you’re wonderful!”

You’ve may have even heard the related species of affirmations “attaboy” or “attagirl.”

God’s words to his Son were the most powerful example of an attaway I had ever found!

I guess I never really saw the theological importance of attaways until I read the story of the baptism of Jesus for the jillionth time. I was doing a graduate study of the Holy Spirit in Luke-Acts and was focusing on the significance of the Holy Spirit in the ministry of Jesus. I had studied the theological implications of Jesus’ baptism in Luke: it is the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry, it is the fulfillment of the enthronement Psalms (e.g., Psalm 2 & 110), it is Jesus entering into his role as God’s Messiah, it is the hand-off of John the Baptist’s ministry to Jesus... But this time, working on finding attaways with the help of my lovely wife, it struck me that God’s words to his Son were the most powerful example of an attaway I had ever found! “You are my Son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.” God affirmed his relationship, his love, and his pleasure in his Son. What’s more, he did it to prepare Jesus for the battle with Satan that was about to take place in the desert. Remember what the first thing the Evil One says to Jesus in the temptation? “If you really are the Son of God...”

“Sorry about that Satan, but I’ve got that one nailed down. I’m his beloved Son who gives him pleasure. He just told me.” Jesus could have confidently told him. A similar thing happens just before his final trip to Jerusalem. “This is my Son, whom I love...” Jesus goes into his most important and heartbreaking battle with a divine attaway from his Father!

So if first graders need an attaway finding teacher to learn to read, and if Jesus needed an attaway giving Father before he faced his greatest trials, then our loved ones and coworkers need them too, don’t you think!

Attaway to go, you’ve got it! So now that you know what an attaway is, why not start looking for them so you can share them! Incredibly, this nearly extinct species reproduces fastest in an environment where they are frequently passed on!