I’m writing this mostly for me – so that I’ll remember what I saw and what I thought. Strange thoughts come into your head when you are traveling long hours – especially if you’re a people watcher – and I’m a people watcher par exilian.
OBSERVATION ONE: Look people in the eye.
When I was a kid – my parents used to teach me to look people in the eye when I spoke to them. This was a matter of being polite as well as communicating. So much communication happens eye-to-eye. The eye is the gate to the soul. This is why a couple in love can stare into each other’s eyes for hours and never say a word – or why mom can change your world with a simple look.
Our culture has moved away from this – young and old. We have become distant from each other and rarely look someone in the eye. When we don’t – our motives become about judging the person favorably or unfavorably for how they look or act, or a preoccupation in what they can do for us. We think all sorts of unmentionable thoughts – the person becomes an object rather than a person.
All of this changes when you look someone in the eye – suddenly they become a mom again, or a daughter, or a father – they become a person. I’ve noticed how much this affects me and consequently them. Look ‘em in the eye – this will change so much about how you treat others – how you love like Jesus asks you to.
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7
OBSERVATION TWO: Enjoy the moment.
If you’re a type A, get ‘r done, always thinking about the next thing – person like me – you know what I mean. I’ve lived most of my life in the next moment. While traveling home yesterday, there was a young family in front of me – 20ish – maybe low 30′s. The man was tall and British – the woman was Chinese. They had a son, around 2-3 years old who was full of life. I watched them (not like I could help it on the 8-hour day flight across the Atlantic) as they interacted. As the mom comforted, disciplined, read to, and played with the boy. I saw the dad make a few “emergency runs” with him to the bathroom.
They laughed, loved, and enjoyed each other and life. Were they believers? I don’t know, and I didn’t get a chance to ask. But they taught me a valuable lesson – enjoy the moment. Stop – and take time to enjoy life – the sounds, the smells, even the long flight from London to Boston. Enjoy today – enjoy now – it’s the only time we’re guaranteed.
Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4;13-14
