Seems like a long time since I have been awake.
Not physically, mind you. The sleep of which I speak is of a creative type. My alarm clock is my sermon for later this morning to 500 students, parents, faculty and staff. I have to have something to say but all week has been pretty busy. I haven't even read the biblical text yet.
I was reminded as I left the fourth children's Christmas program yesterday of the story of Joshua Bell playing violin at the L'Enfant train station in Washington D.C. It was set up by writers at the Washington Post and it is frankly a pretty sad treatise on the state of our souls. Read it here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
Seems that over 1,000 folks walked right by a brilliant world class violinist who played amazing compositions on his $3.5 million Stradivari violin. His total take as a street musician that day was under $40 and the total number of people who actually stopped and listened was less than 10.
Seems that everyone else was in a hurry to get to work. Or to talk on their cell phones. Or to buy a lottery ticket. Or to just be content to move from thing to thing and place to place on their to do list.
Seems like everyone was sleep walking.
The premise of the stunt, if you will, was to see if people would stop for something beautiful. The answer is exceedingly clear.
Nope.
Hard to notice the beauty when we are hard pressed and crazy busy. Hard to stop and listen to the music or smell the roses or just "stand and stare" (W.H. Davies) when we are not able, or willing, to notice.
The problem exposed is this: if we get too busy we will miss it. If we are so head-down, forward-trudging focused we might miss something wonderful and beautiful. We might miss the world-class musician who is offering us a tremendous gift of joy and peace.
And if we are so busy we miss the muscian in the train station, then how are we ever going to see the Grand Composer making music all around us for our joy and peace?
As I was reading this article in the early morning hours, I heard something I have never heard before. An owl was hooting in my backyard. An owl in the middle of town!
I wonder what else I miss in the noisiness of my life? I wonder what other wonderful music the Master Musician is offering for my enjoyment in the world all around me?
It is nice to be awake again and to have the words flow so smoothly. The clicking on my keyboard is like music to my ears!
And my sermon is ready.
