She said “Hello” and smiled at me. I asked “How are you doing?”

Without hesitation she said, “Good, I’m doing good.”

“There’s something in your eyes,” I thought to myself. Something she was hiding.

“Anything new?” I asked.

“Oh…new? No, not really,” she said. “How about you?”

“There are so many new things I wouldn’t know where to begin,” I said smiling.

“Really? That’s…great. I’m happy for you. Hope they’re all good things.”

There it was again. She could say all the stuff we say when we “chit-chat.”

We are so much in a hurry any more that we really don’t take time to listen.

Much like the adult voices in a Charlie Brown cartoon, we speak but never really understand.

“Wha waa waa wa” Charlie Brown hears.

Like when we go through a check out in a store. “Hi! How are you today?”

“Fine, how are you?”

“Fine.”

Next time tell them.

“How are you today?”

“Well, I’ve got too many bills. My back hurts. My feet are paining me so much. My sister drives me crazy. I don’t make enough money and they are pushing me so much at work I want to quit. My car….”

Well, you get the picture.

You know you can’t do it. We have those light conversations simply out of courtesy.

Wouldn’t it be great if we really meant it when we asked…”How are you?”

Wouldn’t it be great if we felt we could tell someone exactly what’s going on?

They say the eye’s are the portals to the soul. It is a fact, I believe because I have often times been able to see beyond the words. The way one looks at me, the things left unsaid are often reflected in the very depth of their vision. I’ve seen it a hundred times in a photo of a child of war. I’ve seen loneliness in the eyes of a homeless man. I’ve seen pain the eyes of a woman mourning for the loss of her loved one and heaven in the eyes of a new born child.

What about the stranger? Why can’t we ask “How are you?” And care enough to want to know.

As for my friend, I was able to draw out the truth just by listening. She spoke volumes when I stopped talking and silence was our platform. There was no small talk left only concern.

“There’s something in your eyes,” I said.

She could not look at me. Then, turning toward me I discovered I was right. They were filled with tears.

“I have cancer,” she said.

I sighed and the healing began.

Nothing can ever be resolved in the darkness of that place we hide our pain. It is our obligation, our duty, our calling, our purpose to extend a hand to any human being in need of help. For the pain reflected in their eyes wide open is often magnified beyond reality when they are shut. In the darkness of night fear rules. For their vision, their sadness, their loss is ever present.

I say then, my friends…listen and you’ll see the truth in the eyes of another.

They in turn, will see “Something in your eyes”, too.

Bob Perks Bob@BobPerks.com