First Baptist Church of Herndon

The Observant Traveler

Linda Soller | Oct 06, 2014

I am a big fan of Miss Marple. If you aren’t familiar with the character she is Agatha Christie’s gray haired, constantly knitting, unassuming sleuth. Really, what is there not to like about this little old lady who solves the crimes while those upstart younger detectives are still floundering around? Even more impressive is how she does it. She observes. Yep, she is a master of observation and that allows her to piece clues and facts together to recreate what happened and solve the crimes. The detectives tend to make assumptions and look for clues and facts to fit the assumptions. Did I say she knits, and wears cute little hats, and shawls? Well you get my point, she is not what you expect when you envision a detective.

The other important characteristic is Miss Marple is observant no matter where she goes, and she travels a lot. There is always an old friend in another village who needs her, or a niece or nephew she hasn’t seen in a while. We know very little about her family except there seems to be plenty of them. I don’t know about you, but I’m more observant when I am in familiar territory. It’s easier to notice when something is out of place or not just right when you see it regularly. When I travel, I may look at the scenery, but I’m not really observing in the true sense of the word.

Last week we started a church wide six week long book study of “The Way” by Adam Hamilton. In the first chapter we looked at Jesus’ baptism and His time of temptation immediately after. In chapter two He heads north and truly begins His ministry, and healing. The book study is accompanied by a DVD which has a brief segment for each chapter. The DVD was filmed in the Holy Land and goes to the areas where our stories take place. Sure, many things look different now than they would have looked to Jesus, but some things are much the same. The Do Drops in class were surprised at how narrow the Jordan River looked in some parts, and how the wilderness looked so similar to our country’s western terrain. I think we imagined the river to look expansive and the wilderness to be more wooded. Many of us had made assumptions about both locations based on our own experience. These new observations help us connect to the account of Jesus’s experiences as we read them in the Bible.

Jesus was also a great observer. He saw opportunities to serve because He was constantly aware of His surroundings. Jesus had a personal connection to John the Baptist, they were cousins, so He surely could have arranged for a private baptism if He had wanted. Instead, Jesus saw, then joined the other believers, and in doing so created an opportunity to teach. Jesus often fled to the hills for comfort and solitude, but when being tempted for forty days, He had to stay focused and observe His surroundings. We can only imagine what He was thinking, as He looked down on the familiar landscape, knowing what was to come. He must have been in awe as He looked off in to the distance, and yet in modern day terms His ministry covered only a small amount of territory. Even as He walked north to establish His base of operation, He observed the people around Him and called some to follow Him on the journey.

Every day we make a choice. While it may not be a conscious choice we do decide at some level if we will motor through our day on cruise control, languish looking behind us, or be attentive and observant of all the possibilities before us. We must never forget opportunities are there for a purpose. God has a plan. If we were like Miss Marple we would observe and figure out what God wanted us to do. We would see that no matter where we were heading, or who we were with, there are opportunities to serve, to share, to love, to give. Yes, if we were like Miss Marple we would go through life with our eyes wide open, not missing a trick, always heading toward the solution, and we would be knitting.  

Have a great week!  :o)    Linda