The Power of Noticing Others
You know what?
It does not take but a minuscule amount of effort on my/your part to really make someone's day.
Smile.
Say hello.
Shoot them a wink (a "hi" wink that is.... not a "flirty" wink)
The point: slow down, open your eyes, notice them
I can't say it much better than what's written below. Please give it a read.
Out for now......
Matt
THE POWER OF NOTICING OTHERS
Dave Peterson
"I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father."
John 10:14-15
Recently I flew from Nashville to Houston. The plane was full, and I sat next to a young woman. After our plane landed, we went our separate ways. Later that day I was working on this passage where Jesus refers to knowing and being known. My mind drifted back to the young woman in the seat next to me, and I realized that I couldn't remember a single thing about her except that she had long dark hair and pearl-colored fingernails. We had traveled together for two hours and covered nearly one thousand miles, and I knew nothing about her.
When Jesus refers to knowing he's not referring to cursory or casual knowledge. He's referring to knowledge that goes to a person's core. It is said of Jesus that,
... he knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone. (John 2:24-5)
A fundamental aspect of discipleship involves paying attention to the people who are around us. We don't have the power to know people at the depth Jesus did, but if we pay attention, we can know at least a little of their joys and sorrows and their dreams and disappointments. In the last of Jesus' parables, he put it this way,
"Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?" And the king will answer them, "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me." (Matt. 25:37-40)
Jesus ordains us to the simple ministry of noticing others. Thomas Seeley is not just a beekeeper on the southern coast of Maine. He's a bee biologist. The life and health of our earth are dependent on honeybees. So Thomas Seeley studies them. He knows his bees and his bees know him. In a cloud of six thousand buzzing bees, he sits unprotected, and no harm comes to him. Most remarkably of all, Thomas Seeley has numbered his bees. Literally. He's painted a number on each bee's back. He knows their coming and going.
One of the great marvels of life is that God knows all seven billion people alive on earth right now. Including you. He inscribes your name on the palm of His hand. He knows your thoughts before you think them and your deeds before you do them.
There are, of course, many obstacles to noticing others. We're nervous about the bother and inconvenience. And--we're certainly aware that noticing people can get you stung. Just ask Jesus. And yet, it is part of our basic calling.
Thomas Seeley has determined that a sense of belonging is a hallmark of a bee hive. Jesus lived as one who belonged to the human hive, and so should we. And as with bees, belonging to each other produces something intensely sweet.
