Sometimes it is easier not to notice.
I’m not talking about merely SEEING… skimming briskly across the surface, dipping in a toe here, then here…
… absorbing just enough substance from which to fashion a quip, a comment, a post…
… sometimes committing outright “thought theft” to make people think we noticed.
Seeing… but not genuinely noticing.
We play the part. We say the words. We settle for “close enough.”
No… I don’t mean SEEING. I mean NOTICING. Deep, masterclass level noticing.
Noticing with the eyes of our soul.
We tend to avoid it because we sense that noticing… really noticing… comes with strings attached.
It joins us.
It bonds us.
It commits us to advancing the well-being of that which we noticed.
Because here is how it works; the eyes of our soul are connected to our affections.
Our affections are connected to our compassion.
And our compassion is connected to our action.
Inescapably connected. Like one bone to another.
- How do I notice – for example – the systems of injustice and racism that still brutalize the lives of my African American brothers and sisters and still not ACT?
- How do I notice the damaging effects of humankind’s poisoning behaviors on the delicate systems of LIFE on this planet and still fail to ACT?
- How do I notice the rampant gnawing hunger for MEANING and PURPOSE among my global kinfolk and still sit here on my hands doing NOTHING about it?
Looking… seeing… noticing… makes me feel small… overwhelmed… overmatched by what I notice.
And so… sometimes I decide it is better not to notice in the first place.
As I turn my head in the vain attempt to find some nice, soft sand in which to bury it, something stops me. I hear the voice that reminds me I worship the God who SEES… who deeply NOTICES… everything.
I am reminded of the story of Hagar – the slave girl impregnated by Abraham and then sent into the desert to die by Abraham’s wife Sarah. God noticed Hagar there in her misery and had compassion on her, leading her to gratefully declare: “’You are the God who sees me,’ for she said, ‘I have now seen the One who sees me.’” (Genesis 16:13, NRSV).
I’m sure Hagar meant to say, “The One who notices me.”
This God is also the God who inspired these words of the psalmist:
“You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.” (Psalm 139:1-4, NRSV)
As we read these words, we understand them as words of gratitude and reverence… not as some kind of paranoid complaint, the way a modern reader might hear them.
You and I are supremely NOTICED – and therefore supremely LOVED – by the One who created it all.
And so, if it is true that you and I are created in the image of this God, it means we are also created to NOTICE and LOVE the world we inhabit.
Every bit of it.
Abundant blessings;
Russellings of the Spirit 
Beautiful words of truth, Russell. I love this. I’m an observer; always have been. I notice things and at times, I notice TOO MUCH. And as you stated, “Looking… seeing… noticing… makes me feel small… overwhelmed… overmatched by what I notice.” It’s easy to want to bury my head in the sand at times. And on the flip side, when I STEP OUT HUGE to help, I GET NOTICED and in ways I don’t sometimes want to because it’s just what humans do–they judge. I try to find the balance of a peaceful existence while noticing and standing up for injustice. Like Hagar, I felt alone and betrayed. AND GOD NOTICED ME! He saw me the whole time even when I had thought HE couldn’t see me. Lord, you have searched me and know my heart. You know my motives and every move. Russell, where would we be without an all-knowing, ever-noticing, loving Father? Thank you for this beautiful “notice”.
Thank you so much for your kind words, Karla. They mean a lot.
I think “noticing” is a big part of the writer’s curse. In order to write – with as much meaning and power as you do – you have to be a deep noticer. We always have to remember WHOSE notice really matters, don’t we? Have a blessed day!
You’re so welcome, Russell! It really can be a curse sometimes, lol. You are wise and right! If God gets the glory, I’m doing my part. I just have to get out of my own way. You have a blessed day, too! I’m headed soon to go work with my “special” adult group. They require a lot of energy so I better be ready! God bless you and Joan!
Yes! Yes! Thankful for a God who “notices” me and gave me the gift of “noticing” well. Thank you for this post.