The Noticer

Title: The Noticer
Author Andy Andrews
ISBN: 978-0-7852-2921-6

From the back cover:

Poverty. A Failing marriage. Old Age. Lost dreams. A failing business. An unsure future. To the residents of Orange Beach, Alabama, these desperations are dead ends. Hopeless, barren places with no chance of change.

But to an old drifter named Jones with a gift for seeing what others miss, there is no such thing as a dead end. It only takes a little "perspective," he says, to recognize the miracles in our moments, the seeds of greatness tucked into our struggles.

As Jones mysteriously makes his way through this coastal town and into the searching hearts of its residents, he offers simple wisdom and sound hope.

"My contention is that you are right where you are supposed to be. This may look like barren sand to you, but nothing could be further from the truth. I say to you that as you lay your head down tonight, you are sleeping on fertile ground. Think, learn, pray, plan, dream. For soon... you will become."

My take:

This book is a more or less a collection of stories where a character called Jones meets people and shares with them wisdom that is conventional in most respects, though it comes in a round-a-about way. For example: There is nothing out of the ordinary about sharing that an older person is not useless and has quite a lot left to offer to others. The way Jones approaches the conversation and the other "links" he makes are not so conventional ~ though I have heard the argument before.

I enjoyed the stories about the changed lives and how he brought together all different age groups and nationalities. What gave me pause was that this is an inspirational book, published by a Christian publisher, and there is no mention of Christ. Jones thought people in a church should smile more often (I agree). One dying man is told to keep his fork because, like his mother's big holiday meals, the best is yet to come (which reminds me of an email story), but there really isn't much in the way of Christianity.

Jones himself appears and then leaves just as quickly. He knows things he can't possibly know. His presence seems to calm people and make them agree to do things they wouldn't ordinarily do. He also seems to be kind of an all things to all people. The Hispanics call him Garcia and see him as one of their own. The Chinese have their own name for him and other people claim he's black.

All in all I think there is a lot of wisdom in these pages. Just about anyone can benefit from reading one or more of the encounters with Jones. This is also kind of a "Pay it Forward" deal. By learning these lessons, you can become a noticer yourself. You can learn more about The Noticer Project here: The Noticer Project I thank Thomas Nelson for my copy.

Have any of you had someone like Jones in your life that came along at just the right time and mentored you or just said exactly what you needed to hear?

Buy The Noticer