Theos-Talk Archives (January 2009 Message tt00396)

Hi Martin, nice!!
You can write a new bible.
Christina



--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, Martin <Mvandertak@...> wrote:
>
> 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?
> 
> 
> 
> One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
> 
> 
> 
> If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best
> musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many
> other things are we missing? Perhaps UTAH 2009 football 
championship?
> 
> 
>       
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>