Did you see the flies?

Back several weeks ago when the weather was much colder in our area, I was part of a Spiritual Retreat in which we were invited to spend some time walking a path outside. After a couple of hours we all shared with each other what we had experienced.
I shared that I had stopped by a water feature and watched some flies coming and going. One of the participants remarked, "I was amazed that you saw the flies".
On my way home later that day, I was trying to think back over why it would have been noteworthy that I noticed the flies. In thinking that through, I realized something very helpful to me about spending time with God, quietly and alone. Up to that point I had not paid attention to the level that quiet time in God's presence raises your level of awareness. It may not sound so earth shaking that you start noticing flies to you, but it does to me. I went far too long in my life focused on activity and doing and very little noticing.
Those meetings with people whose names I can't remember for causes long since forgotten about have faded into a blurr. And that is really about all I recall, is a blurr. But the quiet times with God that make me start paying attention to the plant that is growing in an unexpected place, the arrival of the early flies, is also making me much more aware of what is happening in the lives of the people that walk right in front of me each and every day.
Somehow, I really think that it matters more to God what I notice than what I know. Paying attention is an act of love and a move away from the self focus that consumes many of us. I have not yet found anything that raises the level of "noticing" than presence with God.