Living the Dash

The Algorithm of the Heart and Other Holy Oddities

I was thinking the other day about how funny it is that what we’re looking for, that’s what we tend to find.

It’s like when you finally buy that new vehicle. Before that, you hardly noticed them. Afterwards? You can’t drive to the Dollar General without passing six of them in the same color with the same wheels. Suddenly, they’re everywhere. Did everyone buy one at the exact same time, or did I just start paying attention?

Same thing happens with conversations. Mention chickens, baby names, or cast-iron seasoning one time, and suddenly the internet is convinced you’re trying to start a farm, adopt triplets, or open a diner. Things start to “randomly” pop up on your phone, your Amazon suggestions, and on that weird ad space between the recipes and the comments sections. Algorithms are strange little things… they don’t know the whole story, they just send more of whatever you paid attention to.

That got me thinking about how it works on the inside of us, too. The human heart works in the same way.

If you look for reasons to be offended, bless your heart, you’re gonna find them. People will hand them to you without even meaning to, and before you know it, you’re walking around through life collecting grievances like they’re on clearance. If you look for reasons to be miserable, the world will oblige. Gas prices, weather, politics, traffic, slow Wi-Fi, the chicken didn’t thaw, the kids didn’t nap… You can build a whole case for despair before breakfast. And if you rehearse every injustice, inconvenience, and irritation… well, by lunchtime you’ll be ready to declare that everyone needs therapy, manners, or both.

But on the flip side – and this is where I want to land – if you decide you’re going to look for the good, you’ll find that too. Not because everything is perfect (I’m Southern, not delusional), but because what you seek, you tend to see.

I’ve noticed that when I make my mind up to look for God’s fingerprints in my day, He’s there in a hundred tiny ways I would’ve missed. A kind word from a stranger. A belly laugh I didn’t know I needed. A song that hits the exact spot in my heart that was aching. A parking spot in the shade (if you’re in the South and it’s a hot summer day… that’s one of those “I just hit the jackpot” moments).

Jesus told us, “Seek, and you will find.” (Matthew 7:7). He didn’t put a disclaimer on it. He didn’t say, “Seek only spiritual things,” or “Seek only on Sunday mornings,” or “Seek only when you’re in a good mood.” He just said seek. Because whatever you set your eyes on, your life will start collecting. That’s why a wise old saying floats around these parts: “Ain’t nobody ever stumbled into joy by accident.”

Joy has to be looked for.
Not manufactured.
Not forced.
Just noticed.

The negative stuff will always volunteer. It doesn’t need an invitation. It barges in like a toddler with muddy boots and a popsicle. But the good? The beautiful? The hopeful? The holy? You have to decide to look for those. They’re in the ordinary: in the drive-thru, the laundry pile, the school pickup line, the sink full of dishes, the hard week, the hospital waiting room, the Tractor Supply aisle, and the Sunday service. Sometimes the miracle isn’t that the situation changed… It’s that your eyesight did.