Learning to See Clues

Have you ever watched Blue's Clues? It's a great show on Nick Jr. that features a cute little blue dog and a guy named Joe. It was one of the first shows aimed at preschoolers that attempted to have a conversation with kids instead of talking at them. Joe carries around a cool little notebook and asks the kids in the audience to find the clues to the day's puzzle. Blue has clearly marked the clues with her cute little paw print, and although as adults we can readily see each clue as soon as the scene opens, Joe pauses long enough that even the youngest kid watching has time to find the clue. As each clue is uncovered, Joe writes it down in the little notebook. It's pure genius.

Watching the show with my three-year old buddy, Caleb, I am reminded that we all need to be trained to see clues. When Caleb first started watching Blue's Clues, he only saw the clues after the kids screamed out the answer. Now that he's big (almost four!), he feels pretty smug about being able to spot the clues almost immediately.

It reminds me of the first Book of Clues I started over ten years ago. In the beginning, I didn't always recognize clues when they crossed my path. I was so busy making wrong decisions and suffering the inevitable consequences that I didn't really have time to notice. Eventually, after I had suffered quite enough, I took a clue from Solomon and decided that I wanted wisdom more than anything else. I began to actively seek it out. I prayed for it, longed for it, and to make sure that it didn't slip through my fingers, I wrote it down as it came to me.

The original Book of Clues literally saved my life. It helped me to get in touch with my spirit and to start moving from my own center rather than be tossed about by the whims of others. But even more important than all that, it taught me to see the clues.

Spirit leaves clues everywhere. I've been writing about clues that come from books which are clearly marked as clues, as if they have Blue's footprint on them and are just waiting for us to open them. But clues are everywhere: on the side of a bus, dialogue in a tv show or a movie, a casual comment overheard by a stranger in line at the grocery store, a dream, a random thought that pops into your head, in song lyrics, advice from your parents.

The trick is to begin noticing them as clues, and to write them down. I've noticed that often we don't understand the importance of a clue until later when we have collected more data. I remember my parents used to try to give me advice; it was only years later that I realized what that advice really meant, and how important it was.

So I urge you all to start your own Book of Clues. If you hear or see anything that seems important, write it down. Eventually, you will have trained your mind to focus on wisdom, and wisdom will then come to you when you most need it.