2007-07-16

Recognizing Beauty

A recent article in the Washington Post describes a fascinating experiment: what would happen if the world’s greatest violin player set up camp at a Metro station in rush-hour Washington D.C.? Master musician Joshua Bell played anonymously for an hour on a $3.5 million violin in a D.C. subway station as part of an experiment to see how commuters would respond. Would busy commuters notice him? Dismiss him, toss him some spare change, gather to listen? Would anybody even notice that they were being treated to masterful renditions of some of the finest music in human history?

I wonder if I would have noticed? I'm not a classical music fan, but I try to notice craftsmanship when I see it - and Joshua Bell is certainly a craftsman.

I know we are busy on the way to work or our appointments for the day. But can we manage to take just a moment and recognize beauty and still be on time?

That's worth pondering about...

[ht: Think Christian]

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