He’s there. Look!
http://www.joshuabell.com/photos
“No one knew it, but the fiddler standing against a bare wall outside the Metro in an indoor arcade at the top of the escalators was one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made,” wrote Gene Weingarten in an article in the Washington Post.
The violinist was Joshua Bell who had filled the house at Boston’s Symphony Hall three nights before, where good seats went for $100 or more. He played this day on a violin handcrafted in 1713 by Antonio Stradivari, for which he was reported to have paid 3.5 million dollars.
Those people in the metro station were in for a treat! A free forty-five minute concert by one of the world’s greatest violinists on one of the finest instruments in the world.
Only no one knew it was Bell. He just stood there and played his heart out. That morning of the 1,070 people who hurried by, seven people stopped to take in the performance, at least for a minute. He got $32 for 45 minutes work.
A free concert by one of the world’s greatest musicians on one of the world’s most beautifully-crafted violins–and everyone was in too much hurry to stop and listen.
(To see the concert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myq8upzJDJc)
How many of those people said to themselves afterwards, “If we had known who it was, we would have stopped!”
Did You See God?
That’s the way it is with God. I hear people say things like, “How can you say that God exists? I’ve never seen Him.”
And I want to answer, “Open your eyes gourdhead. He’s playing a concert right in front of you.”
C.S. Lewis put it this way: “We can ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito, and the incognito is not always hard to penetrate. The real labour is to remember, to attend. In fact, to come awake. Still more, to remain awake.”
I’ve seen God in the early-morning sunrise in Hautvillers, France.
I’ve been amazed at His sculptures in the landscape of Arizona. The forest in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains of Northern New Mexico moves me with God’s presence.
God sings through the birds in the morning because He gave them their voice. The stars embedded on their bed of black velvet shout His power and glory. I noticed Him in the faces of my sleeping children.
Where is God? Open your ears! Open your eyes. Most of all, open your heart. He’s speaking. Are you hearing? Don’t miss the most important concert of your life.
“God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening. Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded, But their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere. (Psalm 19:1-4, The Message)
One special year I decided to be especially thankful, so three times a day, at least, I paused and looked for reasons to thank the Lord, big reasons but also tiny ones. It was one of the best years of my life because when I really looked, I saw Him and His hand of goodness without any problem.
Hey, stop. Look. Listen. Otherwise you’ll miss the concert of your life.
Have you ever seen something that spoke to you especially of God’s presence? Share it with us.
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html)
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Humm …
“Bad doctrine finds a home in bad hearts. For a person to be free of “stinkin’ thinkin'” they need heart surgery more than a diploma.” Kerby Rials