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/Today I camped out in the main lobby here at Providence College just outside of the book store and watched people. No, I haven’t taken up stalking or creeping, I just watched people go about their day. People standing, sitting, walking, and talking: all of them doing something that I can write about.

/One thing I observed is that some people have the ability to merge two groups into one. As an example, there was a group of about 3 guys huddled in a group and to one side were two girls talking together. Then another guy comes along that I knew could and would talk to anyone and everyone. He came up and started talking to the group of guys first, and then started to talk to the girls too. He was also standing between the two groups so soon they were one big group and chatting like they were good friends. Now I don’t know the context of the encounter, they might have already all been friends, but either way, it is pretty cool if someone can bring two opposite groups together like that.

/I see all the other groups standing around me too and recognize each one of them. One group consists of the sports players who are probably talking about the latest practice or game, there’s the 2 guys playing foosball who are getting pretty intense, the group mentioned above still chatting it up, and of course there is the table full of four Asian girls conversing about, well, I don’t really know what they are saying. Sometimes I wonder what they are talking about in their circles, but then I realize that I probably won’t ever know.

/Oh well, back to the groups. They are dispersing now to head to various destinations. Half of one group will go up the stairwell with a wave to those who exit through the front doors. Some conversations are forgotten in an instant while some are mulled over in brains until the next discussion comes along. The lobby is completely empty now, just me and silence. Or is it silent? I now hear sounds I couldn’t hear over the din of chatting students. I hear the humming of the vending machine behind me, inviting me for a snack. I also take notice of the music drifting through the bookstore door and into the open space of the lobby. I almost missed it because of the sound of the tempting snack machine. The song is one I have never heard of before but I can instantly tell it is from a Christian band.

/It then hit me. The symbolism of this situation was basically staring me in the face and screaming. I wasn’t hearing the beautiful melody wafting through my world because the world was too loud. It sounds like something straight out of a poetry book but it is so true. I even wrote about this in one of my previous blogs, that sometimes we can’t hear God because the world just has too many things going on.

/It is amazing how God can use a 500 word blog assignment for a Writing for the Media class to teach me another lesson. His presence here on Earth showing us his love in the smallest of situations is awesome.

/The sound of footsteps on the hard ground makes me look up. With a smile and a wave I dismiss the student late for class and with fifteen minutes left before my own class, head off on my own path.

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