Don't Pass Him By

I just read a powerful article at washingtonpost.com about a social experiment set up by Gene Weingarten, a Washington Post staff reporter. On Friday, January 12 of this year, Weingarten arranged for a world-class violinist to stand outside the Metro in Washington DC in an indoor arcade at the top of the escalators and play some of the finest classical music ever composed on one of the most valuable violins ever made.

Did I mention the violinist was Joshua Bell? Joshua recently received the 2007 Avery Fisher Prize which is awarded for outstanding achievement and excellence in music. This award is so prestigious and demanding that no one has received its prize for three years. And the violin that he plays? Bell owns the Gibson Stradivarius violin that he purchased in 2001 for $3.5 million. It's considered the world's greatest violin!

At 7:51 AM Joshua Bell began playing his Gibson Stradivarius violin and over the next 43 minutes played six great classical pieces. What transpired next is the material for Weingarten's Washington Post article. The article contains four video segments and then entire 43 minutes of recorded audio. I encourage you to read the entire piece. It's long but well worth the read. I have to tell you that by the end I was in tears. You won't be disappointed.

As I tried to process my own emotions, several passages of Scripture came to mind.

He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but but his own did not receive him. John 1:10-11

But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:40-41

One of the greatest violists in the world performs in a busy public venue and goes virtually unnoticed. Here is how Weingarten reports it.

In the three-quarters of an hour that Joshua Bell played, seven people stopped what they were doing to hang around and take in the performance, at least for a minute. Twenty-seven gave money, most of them on the run -- for a total of $32 and change. That leaves the 1,070 people who hurried by, oblivious, many only three feet away, few even turning to look.

I believe he hits the nail on the head when he goes on to write:

Let's accept that we can't look at what happened on January 12 and make any judgment whatever about people's sophistication or their ability to appreciate beauty. But what about their ability to appreciate life? We're busy. Americans have been busy, as a people, since at least 1831, when a young French sociologist named Alexis de Tocqueville visited the States and found himself impressed, bemused and slightly dismayed at the degree to which people were driven, to the exclusion of everything else, by hard work and the accumulation of wealth.What about our ability to appreciate and live life? We're drive by hard work and the accumulation of wealth to the extent that we can't even take the time to enjoy the incredible gift of life we have been given.

And on one starry night, God himself showed up in our neighborhood. Thousands passed him by, but a few lowly shephards paused to recognize his greatness. His virtuoso performance went unrecognized and unappreciated.

Gene Weingarten says that he has never written a piece that has generated such strong reaction and public response. He has received thousands of emails and letters. The article showed up in the Washington Post on Easter Sunday of all days. I believe this story touches hearts because it reminds us that there is more to life than working hard, staying busy and accumulating wealth. That life is meant to have beauty and purpose. And that sadly, so many wander aimlessly by the master musician, oblivious to the incredible music.

The story that grabbed my heart is the one of John Picarello. I apologize for the length of this post, you have permission to quit reading!

Picarello hit the top of the escalator just after Bell began his final piece, a reprise of "Chaconne." In the video, you see Picarello stop dead in his tracks, locate the source of the music, and then retreat to the other end of the arcade. He takes up a position past the shoeshine stand, across from that lottery line, and he will not budge for the next nine minutes.

Like all the passersby interviewed for this article, Picarello was stopped by a reporter after he left the building, and was asked for his phone number. Like everyone, he was told only that this was to be an article about commuting.

When he was called later in the day, like everyone else, he was first asked if anything unusual had happened to him on his trip into work. Of the more than 40 people contacted, Picarello was the only one who immediately mentioned the violinist.
"There was a musician playing at the top of the escalator at L'Enfant Plaza."

Haven't you seen musicians there before?
"Not like this one."

What do you mean?
"This was a superb violinist. I've never heard anyone of that caliber. He was technically proficient, with very good phrasing. He had a good fiddle, too, with a big, lush sound. I walked a distance away, to hear him. I didn't want to be intrusive on his space."

Really?
"Really. It was that kind of experience. It was a treat, just a brilliant, incredible way to start the day."

Picarello knows classical music. He is a fan of Joshua Bell but didn't recognize him; he hadn't seen a recent photo, and besides, for most of the time Picarello was pretty far away. But he knew this was not a run-of-the-mill guy out there, performing. On the video, you can see Picarello look around him now and then, almost bewildered.

"Yeah, other people just were not getting it. It just wasn't registering. That was baffling to me."

When Picarello was growing up in New York, he studied violin seriously, intending to be a concert musician. But he gave it up at 18, when he decided he'd never be good enough to make it pay. Life does that to you sometimes. Sometimes, you have to do the prudent thing. So he went into another line of work. He's a supervisor at the U.S. Postal Service. Doesn't play the violin much, anymore.

When he left, Picarello says, "I humbly threw in $5." It was humble: You can actually see that on the video. Picarello walks up, barely looking at Bell, and tosses in the money. Then, as if embarrassed, he quickly walks away from the man he once wanted to be.

Bell thinks he did his best work of the day in those final minutes, in the second "Chaconne."

Jesus is worthy of our entire devotion and lives. Take time today to humbly receive his free gift of salvation. Take time today to linger in his presence to enjoy his beauty. Don't pass him by.