Last week the Washington Post ran a story which set about asking and answering the question, “Can one of the nation’s great musicians cut through the fog of a D.C. rush hour?” The idea was to have virtuoso Joshua Bell take on the role of a busker, albeit one playing a 1713 Stradivarius (prime even among Stradivari) worth $3.5 Million. Not your average street musician… but among 1,070 passers-by over 45 minutes, 7 stopped to listen and 27 made donations totaling $32 and change. Seth Godin admits what most of us will know to be true of ourselves… he too would have ignored Bell and passed on by. The video clip with the article (or the full performance) provide enough audio for even an untrained ear to tell that this is beauty out of place.
El Nellis asks, will beauty transcend? He picks out a line from the article, noting that “the behavior of one demographic remained absolutely consistent. Every single time a child walked past, he or she tried to stop and watch. And every single time, a parent scooted the kid away.”
Interesting isn't it? What do I fail to see when I fail to notice. What does poverty, addiction and homelessness have to say about beauty? I can only imagine what I miss every single day when I fail to see missionally. Perhaps slowing down just a little would allow an opportunity to notice. I drove 180 miles today. I must have bumped into a 100 people. Had meetings with law enforcement, directors of BIG things and addicted folks. I think there were many times today that I would have walked by a Joshua Bell in a heartbeat. I think there are times when I walk by when I'm doing the work of God. Lord teach me to really notice the "least of these" even if it means being distracted by the BIG vision for a moment or two.
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