Jesus was a noticer. He was curious. His mind was active, attentive, fully alive.
We don’t really think of Jesus as a noticer, do we? We think of him as more of a knower. But, knowing and noticing are not mutually exclusive. We can know our spouse or our best friend and still notice something new about them. Knowing is nice because it gives a sense of control and certainty, but sometimes knowing makes us lazy, closed off. Noticing leads to action and engagement. The power of noticing comes from the rejection of a lazy mind and the embrace of an active mind.
So, let’s talk about what noticing is, how to act upon what we notice, and the results of taking notice.
Curiosity
Curiosity might kill cats (see what I did there?), but it keeps us alive. A better way of saying it is that curiosity makes life more vibrant and interesting. It’s the lack of curiosity that kills us slowly.
Curiosity asks instead of assumes. In fact, a curious person thinks less about what they think they know and instead focuses on an openness to possibilities. This is what Jesus how Jesus lived. He asked questions not because he lacked knowledge, but because he invited discovery. In Luke 2:46-47, Jesus as a boy, shocked and astounded the learned teachers of his day not by sharing what knew but by asking questions that lead to deeper meaning.
But in a constantly distracted world, our curiosity is under attack. Mindless scrolling, passive entertainment, and trivial distractions steal our mental energy. This kind of lifestyle cuts us off from curiosity and gives life a dullness that is tough to explain but easy to feel. This is what they call “brain rot”, a sluggishness of thought, a resistance to deep thinking, a default mode of consuming rather than discovering. We trade the adventure of the ordinary for the comfort of certainty, and in doing so, we lose the sharpness of an engaged mind.
Curiosity is the heat from the candle of noticing. Both take vigilance in an age of brain rot. We must reclaim our curiosity. We must ask questions, look deeper, and cultivate an active mind that is ready to notice what God is doing around us.
Mindlessness
Mindlessness is the act of avoiding attention. This is a symptom of an unengaged life and it is also the medicine used by whole communities to deal with the drudge of the day to day.
One of the most dangerous aspects of mindlessness is its preference for certainty over openness. Certainty feels safe because it convinces us that we can control the future because of what we know about the past. But the truth is that we can’t control what may or may not happen. All we can control is our response. And the preferred response for many is mindlessness, disengaging to get by. But this does not have to be the option. We always have the choice to notice, pay attention, and engage with life.
Jesus was not mindlessness. He was open and engaged. When he walked through crowds, he wasn’t just moving from one place to another, he was present, attentive, attuned to the people and places around him. He saw Zacchaeus in the tree (Luke 19:5). He noticed the widow giving her last two coins (Mark 12:41-44). He paid attention in a way that revealed the unseen and honored the unnoticed.
The result of Jesus’ engaged life was meaningful connections, deep insights, and something tangibly different. Jesus was not stuck in his ways. Mindlessness keeps us stuck in jobs we don’t like, surface level relationships, and the general lack of purpose. So, the call for a mindless person is not avoidance but action, taking notice instead of turning the brain off.
Start with the life you have. Challenge yourself to notice something new about your spouse, a boring project at work, in a book you are reading. Watch how your engagement changes from merely allowing life to happen to actively participating in life when you start noticing.
Love
You can tell what someone loves by what they pay attention to. Notice the word “pay” in that last sentence. Loving something or someone comes with a cost. If you love something you pay for it with your attention over time and notice changes, nuances, and new wonders.
Jesus modeled this perfectly. He noticed the overlooked, the outcast, the ones society deemed unworthy of attention. He saw the woman at the well (John 4), the blind man on the side of the road (Mark 10:46-52), the desperate touch of a woman in the middle of a chaotic crowd (Luke 8:43-48). His most famous acts of love came from the times he took notice and then took action. This is what love requires.
When we take active notice, we strengthen our capacity to love. We begin to see people not as background noise, but as individuals with stories, struggles, and souls that matter. We develop the ability to be present, to listen well, to offer our full attention to those around us.
The more you notice the more connections you will begin to make, and connection is the seed of love. Keep watering your connections by committing to notice newness and novelty. Then take action. Speak up about what you notice and allow love to grow.
A Call to Notice Like Jesus
Noticing is not an end of itself, it is a guide to deeper connection with God and living fully alive. Following Jesus leads to a life of taking notice, engaging in life, and cultivating love. Below are some starting points to put this skill into practice.
- Ask more questions. Stop assuming, stay curious. Ask people about their experiences, their thoughts, and their perspectives. Ask God more questions and listen for his still small voice.
- Put down distractions. Put the phone away and try to notice three new things. When with others or with God be there and nowhere else. This will take some unlearning for most. Be patient and stay present.
- Be grateful. Noticing and gratitude go hand in hand. When you make a habit of noticing the small things in your day, your appreciation for life deepens. Make a list of what you are grateful for every day. This will force you to find something new to be grateful for each day.
- Look for the Kingdom. The kingdom of God is at hand (Mark 1:15), but you won’t see it if you aren’t looking. Train your eyes to see God’s work in the everyday moments of life.
In a crowd of distractions, life is pulling at our clothes, trying to get our attention. May we, like Jesus, take notice, take action, and live fully alive.
