There are fires in Colorado. I knew this.
There was some crazy storm in the Chicago-area. I had no idea.
Mobile, Alabama is getting 1,000 jobs from a new deal with French aircraft manufacturer, Airbus. I knew it.
A friend from church was recently on the news for work he does with the Boy Scouts. I missed it.
All around us. All the time. News is happening. Lives are being changed. Some of the news is good. Some is devastating.
Somewhere someone just found out they have cancer. Someone somewhere just learned their cancer is in remission.
Someone just bought a new car. Someone is sleeping in their car. Someone can’t sleep.
Lives swirling around us. How many do I ignore? Too many.
So, I’m thinking today about what I pay attention to, and what I should be paying attention to. I’m thinking about the people around me and what is going on in their worlds. Some I know. Some I don’t. Sometime it’s because I’m not paying attention. Sometime, I’m too busy focusing on myself. Sometime, I don’t care. But I’m not completely oblivious. Sometime, I do notice and I do see. Sometime, I do get it and pay attention.
What is the key? What makes it on my radar screen?
Right place, right time? Right people?
I recently heard a woman talking about “our need to get in the way of God’s grace.” To put ourselves in places, positions, postures where we are more aware of God.
Maybe this is the same for people.
If I put myself in places and positions and postures where I can be “interrupted” by the lives of those around me, maybe I’ll start noticing more?
It might not always be “sensational” or “extraordinary”, but most of life isn’t. It may not be a story that would make the headlines, but my “news” needs to include more of the real lives of the people I’m doing life with. If I pay attention to the mundane, I’ll be in a better place to discover the big stuff.
And if I start with the lives closest to me , perhaps my awareness will expand to others? Maybe I won’t miss the devastating storms that hit Chicago or the rest of the world? Maybe I’ll become a better global citizen, a better person, a better Christian?
After all, I am called to love God and love neighbor. Who is my neighbor? Everyone. How will I love them? I must first notice them.
Life is better together,
Shawn
Big Rubber Band Ball 