I found an important lesson in this Sherlock Holmes mystery I was reading recently.
Holmes has just deduced conclusions that leave Watson amazed. Holmes rattles off conclusion after conclusion, all of which are correct, but none of which Watson saw coming.
Here is Watson’s response and the ensuing conversation with the great detective.
I could not help laughing at the ease with which he explained his process of deduction. “When I hear you give your reasons,” I remarked, “the thing always appears to me to be so ridiculously simple that I could easily do it myself, though at each successive instance of your reasoning I am baffled until you explain your process. And yet I believe that my eyes are as good as yours.”
“Quite so,” he answered, lighting a cigarette, and throwing himself down into an armchair. “You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear. For example, you have frequently seen the steps which lead up from the hall to this room.”
“Frequently.”
“How often?”
“Well, some hundreds of times.”
“Then how many are there?”
“How many? I don’t know.”
“Quite so! You have not observed. And yet you have seen. That is just my point. Now, I know that there are seventeen steps, because I have both seen and observed.
There are obvious implications for …
Observing when we interact with others (are we really listening so as to observe?)
Observing when we pray (are we paying attention to the God we address and carefully considering what it is we are saying to Him?)
Observing when we read our Bibles (are we carefully observing all the connections in the passage?)