In mid-July as I walked out of the gym, I got a strong whiff of skunk. It was just before dawn, and I was walking home, so I made a mental note to be extra aware on my walk. Sure enough, just as I came across a culvert, there was a stinky fellow looking for his breakfast. I quickly gave him a wide berth.

As I got around it, I saw a woman walking directly toward the little guy. I loudly warned her there was a skunk, but she kept moving. That’s when I realized she was looking at her phone and had headphones on.

I rushed toward her and spoke loudly again, but still no reaction, so

I reached out and touched her arm. She jumped, whipped off her headphones and looked at me in terror. I told her that I just wanted to warn her about the skunk that was just 100 or so feet ahead. She was very thankful and diverted as I had.

This whole incident got me thinking about how often I miss opportunities or warnings because my eyes are buried in a screen or my brain is off in wonderland. How many times do I miss God’s presence because my head is down and my heart is hard?

There is not a doubt in my mind that God is always near: in my kids, in my co-workers, in the sunrise, in the rain and even in those pesky nuisances of life (skunks) — I just have to keep my eyes open, my ears tuned and my heart soft so that I can recognize him and his work.

For the rest of my walk home that morning, I sang to myself: Open my eyes, Lord, help me to see your face … Open my ears, Lord, help me to hear your voice … Open my heart Lord, help me to love like you.

For the record, I saw two more skunks but no people on the way home that morning. The stinky little suckers were up early because of the summer heat, kind of like me.