Look all around you and see what is real.
Hear what is true and be sure what you feel.
Touch someone near you in love if you can.
Give all you have and be part of God’s plan.
– from “Look All Around You” by John Fischer, 1967
This is a Jesus Movement song before we knew there was a Jesus Movement. I wrote it in 1967. Not only was there not a Jesus Movement yet, there was no such thing as Jesus music. No record contracts. No concert tours. I didn’t even know what was going to happen with this music; I just knew I had to write it and sing it wherever and whenever I could.
Even with the first two lines of this song, I’m not sure what I meant. I only know that being real was a big deal to me then. “Real” meant genuine, honest, believable, trustworthy — the real thing. I had grown up with a lot of Christianity around me and much of it seemed phony, and I did not want to be identified with anything that wasn’t real. So when I answered God’s personal call to serve Him, I made Him promise — I would serve Him as long as everything about following Him would be real. Little did I know that coming around the corner would be a Jesus Movement in which Christ would be present and more real than ever through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
So “Look all around you and see what is real,” was an invitation to discover the reality of God in the world. And the process by which we discover this reality is the process of actively searching. God wants us to pursue Him. And we will be rewarded if we seek Him everywhere. “Look all around you…” is a summons to seek — to open up the eyes of your mind and heart and seek the Lord. It’s His way of revealing Himself. “Anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6).” So if you are seeking the Lord and you look all around you for what is real, you will be rewarded with finding Him.
And think about it: so many found Him in the following years. So many thousands upon thousands saved and baptized and added to God’s forever family because Christ was real. And it’s the same thing today. If you’ve gotten too old, you just forgot the simple truth. Those who earnestly seek Him will find Him. It’s true today as it always has been.
Look all around you and see what is real.
John Fischer The Catch 
In the 80’s I staffed the UCD Asian American Christian Fellowship. Our worship leaders loved this song. JEMS was producing new music to use in meetings, Wes Terasaki was one of the leading composers that was introducing new songs to campus ministries and to church youth groups in Southern and Northern California and the Seattle area. The students especially like the line, “Touch someone near in love if you can…”, students would run around the room touching each other on the shoulder or head, a bit of a literal translation. The Asians American churches used many of the JEMS produced as part of their worship, but I am not sure if the mainstream churches picked them up too. It was common to find John Fischer songs being sung in many churches of the 70’s and 80’s.
Amen: “Those who earnestly seek Him will find Him. It’s true today as it always has been.”
I became a youth pastor in 1974. I taught myself to play guitar and one of the first songs we sang in our youth group was “Look All Around”. I’m pushing 70 years old and I’m still a youth pastor. I have led that song in youth ministry for almost five decades. We sang it in children’s church this past Sunday. I’ll check back in with you in 2033. Thank you for writing it. It has been timeless.