Have You Ever Stopped to Watch People?

Steven Arenas

Stop a moment and drop everything. Then watch your surroundings. I mean, take a good look at everything and appreciate each detail--even the guy who alarmingly stares back at you wondering why you're so absorbed watching him. You have to try it sometime.  It purifies mind and soul. It clears you of clutters in the mind and puts you right in the middle of NOW. Often, we're drifting everywhere except in the now.

Hurrying to no particular destination. No certain purpose. People just want to hurry. They believe hurrying makes them reach some worthy goals, but it doesn't. They're just hurrying. God told Habakkuk how "...people's labor is only fuel for the fire, that (they) exhaust themselves for nothing."



Out of mindlessness or getting caught up in the madness, I often find myself hurrying, too. Well, I need to make it to an "important" meeting, I need to beat some deadlines, I need to be on time in church, I need to submit some papers before the SEC office closes--I need to do this and that. Everything is so important. Sometimes we claim how, "I need to do what I believe God called me to do," and we hastily do it.

But I found how you'd never see what's really worth hurrying up for in life until you stop and drop everything.

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One day while jogging (aiming to shed off some pounds and develop some stamina which I thought were so important to me), I decided to just stop and slowly look around me. Feel the surroundings. I watched the sidewalk gardens fronting the neighborhood, medium height trees sprouting new leaves, the lone straight narra towering over everything (I never noticed that narra tree before), a green striped cat hidden under the shrubbery and the still, lonely houses left behind by their owners for the day.

Everyday I jogged past them and never really "saw" them like this. There was a satisfying calm that put my entire self to rest and took me away from mundane things to keep me in the now. It was odd. I never thought there could be a now moment--a now awareness. I'm here, I exist, I'm breathing in the midst of nature, and nature's breathing with me. I actually "hear" silence. Time seems to stop because the "now" is all that matters.

I figured, this must be what's said about, "Be still and know I am God."

Yeah, it's easier being aware of God in quiet moments like this. So when I jog or brisk walk, I watch everything around me. Fallen leaves on the street, the sun shyly showing in the horizon, Aling Meggie quietly sweeping her sidewalk, Melba opening her small store, Clinton doing his morning stretch without barking at anyone, and birds gathering food.

I watch other joggers I meet along the way, their facial expression, eye movement, and jogging mannerism. Sometimes I could tell who's behind me without looking by simply listening to the sound of their feet. It's kinda like a thumbprint--no two pairs of footsteps sound the same. Sometimes, joggers go in groups and share all kinds of stories. I catch a bit as I pass them by and smile. Sometimes I manage to slip in a comment or two that make them laugh.

Then they invite me to join them. I can do that, but I prefer jogging alone. Sometimes I join them when they stop at the park for a rest, and I listen to their stories. Stopping and listening to people's hearts and souls is a lost art. I thank God for restoring it in me. Most of what I hear remain embedded in my mind and burst as mental visions when I'm alone with God.

I do the same in malls. I sit on a bench in a waiting area and observe people, not to find something wrong with them, but to "hear" their souls. You hear them quite a bit after you've been doing it a long while. Each face has a story--an entire history behind it and carrying a long line of genealogies--a battle, drama or saga--hurts and pains and stifled cries--and God lets you "hear" them sometimes when you've learned to be sensitive to them.

You become a life watcher when you're a nonjoiner. You cannot discover your life sensitivity gifts if you're always in company with others, especially with noisy folks. Love them, but often break away quietly to enjoy the peace that passeth understanding and which only shows up when you keep still and know HE is GOD.