Adrian, Michigan 
by Rev. Robert J. Hermley

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I was leaving the area after many happy years in Adrian.  I was leaving many wonderful friends, memories and places that would always remain rooted in my heart.

As I drove along the road that final Sunday.  I thought that perhaps I might never return here again, or at least it might be a long time before I could return.  So I wanted to take in once again the beauty of this area that I had loved so much.

As I drove along the road, I looked at every tree, every house, every fern that grew by the side of the road.  Each thing seemed to take on a special beauty far beyond any I could remember.  Finally, I stopped the car to survey the entire area in all its loveliness.

Why, I said to myself, why had I never noticed it before?  I had driven that road a thousand times; it was always picturesque and rural, but only today did I truly see it as it was.  I had looked at it often, but I had been too busy to actually see it.

Very often in life there are many wonderful people I pass each day - people with troubles, people with joys, people with hidden sorrows.  I look at them, I talk with them, I congratulate them, I commiserate with them.  I see them on the outside, but do I ever truly look at them?  Do I take the time to look deeper into their troubled hearts?  Do I know their fears, their worries, their cares, their terrors, their aloneness?  Do I try to share my time with them, or do I wait until they, or I must leave for the final time before I realize what a treasure I had been passing by each day?

Lord, help me not only to see people, but to look at them, to care for them and to be generous with my time with all who need me.