Taking Notice

“He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: ‘I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’” (Matthew 18:2-4 NIV)

Joshua Bell is a world-class violinist at whose concerts people pay as much as $100 for a seat.  Yet, on an early winter’s morning back in 2007, Bell couldn’t get more than a handful of people to listen to him play a 45-minute concert.  Bell was asked by the Washington Post to play in a Washington, D.C. subway station during the morning rush hour to see if people, in the course of their daily routines, would take notice of his beautiful music if they didn’t know who he was.  

So he arrived at the subway stop, took out his million-dollar Stradivarius, threw a couple bucks into the case for “seed” money, and began to play. He played six pieces by Bach.  After the first, the man who was accustomed to standing ovations, received no applause. He awkwardly paused and then began his second piece.  Of the hundreds passing by, only a few stopped to listen.  Some dropped a dollar in his case as they passed by.  One said later he never even heard the music because he was listening to his iPod.  

The only ones who seemed to really pay attention were the children. Every child that passed by turned to look and some fought their parents to stop and listen.  One three year-old continued to look back as his mother pulled him through the doors onto the street.  None of the parents were willing to let their kids stop and listen.  

By the end of the 45-minute concert, only two people were standing listening (one was a woman who recognized Bell from a concert she had attended earlier that week) and there was a total of $32 in his case.  

Our busyness and the task-oriented culture in which we live often lead us to miss the beauty of what is right in front of us.  Just this week, I sat in my living room at dusk working on my computer.  As I looked outside, I noticed the faint shades of dark pink and gray—the remnants of a beautiful sunset.  A sunset that occurred right outside my window, yet of which I had taken no notice. 

There are a number of reasons we should remain like children.  One of those is so we can continue to notice and be awed by the beauty of all God has created.  Whether it be a concert violinist, a sunset, or any other thing of beauty, we should always be the first to stop and take notice. After all, beauty is one of God’s great gifts to us. 

© Jim Musser 2014