Stop & Listen...

A Violinist in the Metro

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context? 
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In 1 king 19:11-13  “The Lord said, Go out and stand on the mountain, in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind, tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?"

God tend to communicate beauty in the most unexpected places, sometimes I would prefer to find God in the spectacular, or the way I expect Him to be, or in conferences, or prophets picking me out to speak to me; however, He may be at our daily ordinary life,  while we washing dishes or while we driving..

Stop and Listen what He has got to say... let His word bring life and truth to your situation! :)
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Just after I finnish writting this to my LG members, something funny happened, i was very down i guess starting to question God about my life, future, and perhaps sales wasnt great lately as well... I was asking God, give me one new sales today.. and uni was really quiet because everyone was busy with due dates for assignments and preparing for final exams. Hardly one soul walked in...

just when i was very down; i was looking at this little card i put up infront of my table "Lord help me to remember that nothing is going to happen today that you and i can't handle together".. one girl walked in and ask me to unlock her phone and as i was switching on her phone; the wall paper had the exact words. At first i just continue unlocking her phone and let her go. But suddenly i am reminded the article i just sent out to my group. I HAD NOT STOP .. and LISTEN.. suddenly i felt God really want to speak to me; He really want to encourage me; comfort me .....and ....whisper you are LOVED you are LOVED!!!!

Right after work; i went to the store room, knelt down and had a good cry..

HE IS GOOD.