Soon after my wife, Debbie, and I had started dating, we drove together from Grahamstown, where we were both studying at Rhodes University, to Port Elizabeth to stay with her parents for the weekend. I had not driven in a city for a while and so I was quite nervous navigating the busy roads. After turning off the main highway, we had stopped at a traffic light controlling a large intersection. When the light turned green I started forward and was just beginning to relax when Debbie suddenly shouted, “John!” I hit the brakes and spun my head around looking for whatever the danger was that had caused her outburst, but could find nothing to avoid. Then I noticed her pointing, and as I followed her finger she smiled and exclaimed with joy, “daffodils!”
Through the years of our marriage I have learned a valuable and life-giving lesson from this woman who would stop me in the middle of traffic to celebrate the beauty of a flower. I have learned to take notice, to stop and really see the world around me and the glory and beauty that peeks out from every corner. And as I have learned to do this, my life has become richer, filled with a sense of wonder and gratitude that I had not discovered before. I have also noticed how easy it is to miss the glory and fall into a life of dreary routine and careless monotony.
In the old movie Joe Versus The Volcano, Tom Hanks plays a worker in a dull, gray factory, where he falls into a deep depression. His life has no meaning and he finds himself always feeling sick and tired. Then, he is diagnosed with a terrible disease – a “brain cloud”, the doctor calls it – and given only a short time to live. But, his fortunes change when a millionaire offers to give him anything he wants, if only he will promise, after a short time, to jump into a volcano to satisfy the local inhabitants of an island that provides a valuable resource for one of the millionaire’s businesses. Hanks’ character agrees, and finds himself surrounded by luxury, beauty and experiences he had never before dreamed of. And, amazingly, he begins to feel better than ever. Of course, he later discovers that the “brain cloud” was a hoax thought up by the wealthy man to con him into giving his life to save the man’s business. But, in the journey he has learned that he needs to recognise life’s joys and beauties in order to feel whole.
This is true of all human beings. When we fail to notice the beauty, the glory and the creativity around us, we grow tired, joyless and unmotivated. But, when we make the choice to open our eyes, see the beauty that is everywhere, and take the time to enjoy it, we are changed. Life becomes vibrant and exciting and we feel more fully alive. Even more, when we learn the habit of taking notice, we begin to recognise the evidence of divine activity in our lives and our world. We start seeing God’s fingerprints everywhere, and we begin to know, even the difficult times, that God is with us and is actively working.
So, how do we learn to open our eyes to the glory around us, and the divine activity that is always present in our lives? Every week, as we gather for worship, we share in the act of giving thanks – and it is this that teaches us to take notice. It is impossible to give thanks without recognising the glory and grace that surrounds us. It is impossible to give thanks without noticing God’s creative work in our world. It is impossible to give thanks and remain unmotivated and lifeless. As we engage in this weekly practice, we begin to develop thanksgiving as a habit, and every time we are touched by beauty or goodness or truth, we automatically breathe a prayer of thanksgiving. And when that happens, we find ourselves in an upward spiral in which we notice more grace, which leads us to give more thanks, which opens our eyes to even more goodness, which creates more gratitude.
The act of saying “thank you” costs us nothing, but it brings us wealth beyond measure. We need only take the time to notice.
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John van de Laar is a Methodist minister, liturgical consultant and the author of the book Food for the Road – Life Lesson from the Lord’s Table. He holds a Master’s Degree in theology from UNISA, and is the founder of Sacredise.com, an international worship training and resourcing ministry. John is married to Debbie, and they have two sons.
Visit www.sacredise.com for more articles by John, as well as resources for personal and public worship – music, prayers, liturgies, images and drama scripts.