A Little Perspective

"So how did you know my name?", I asked.

"No big deal, really," he shrugged. "I been watching you for a long time. I have been around."

I watched him for a moment, considering his answer, then slowly nodded and retreated into the darkness for his coke. Returning with two cans, I handed one to the old man. Popping the top, Jones shifted in the sand and crossed his legs. "All right," he said, taking a long pull from the red can, "let's get started."

"Get started . . . what?" I asked flatly.

Jones set the can on the sand and said, "We need to start noticing a few things. We need to check your heart. We need to gather a little perspective."

"I don't even know what you are talking about," I said. "And I don't know who you are." "Fair enough," he smiled. "Well, let me see now . . . How do I explain?" He leaned toward me quickly. "As for who I am, call me Jones."

"I am a noticer," he said. "I notice things that other people overlook. And you know, most of them are in plain sight." The old man leaned back on his hands and cocked his head. "I notice things about situations and people that produce perspective. That's what most folks lack—perspective—a broader view. So I give them that broader view . . . and it allows them to regroup, take a breath, and begin their lives again."

That is an excerpt from Andy Andrew's new book The Noticer. It is about the simple people in a small town called Orange Beach, Alabama. They all have their share of problems—marriages teetering on the brink of divorce, young adults giving up on life, businesspeople on the verge of bankruptcy, and many of the other obstacles that life seems to dish out to the masses.

Fortunately, when things look the darkest, a mysterious old man named Jones has a miraculous way of showing up. A man of indiscriminate age and race with white hair and wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and carrying a battered old suitcase, Jones is a unique soul with angelic-like qualities. Communicating what he calls “a little perspective,” Jones explains that he has been given a gift of noticing things about life that others miss. In his simple interactions, he speaks to that part in everyone that is yearning to understand why things happen and what they can do about it.

If you choose to read it, and I urge you to, prepare to gather a little perspective!