Far from the madding crowd

You've probably heard by now the incident where Joshua Bell, world-renowned violinist played his $3 million Stradivarius in Washington subway station for 45 minutes. I think it was 2007. him. You can watch the astounding video here.

The Times online reports:

The results were astonishing, at least to Bell, who is accustomed to wowing packed concert halls of rapt listeners. Of the 1,097 people who passed him, just seven stopped to listen. A further 20 tossed coins into his fiddle case as they hurried by. Just one person recognized who Bell was. The rest of the 1,097 commuters — all 1,070 of them — walked within a few feet of this virtuoso, his priceless fiddle and the magnificent sound of Bach without any discernible reaction whatsover.

“It was a strange feeling,” Bell later recalled, “that people were actually ignoring me.” Particularly strange, I would guess, when, at the end of each piece, his playing (which usually brings standing ovations) elicited not a single clap. (to read this Times article in full, click here)

I think it's one of the pitfalls of my job, being a Pastor, but I've joined Walmart and Loblaws in starting to think about Christmas...in fact, I've been thinking about Christmas for a couple of weeks already. I've already had to say "no" to a couple of engagements, discovered that I'm double-booked for at least one event and have witnessed my December calendar getting very, very full already!

I hate when Christmas gets so full of stuff that Christ gets lost in the middle of it. He's there, on the sidelines, playing his wonderful music of grace, truth, hope and peace, as I rush by, earbuds in ears trying to figure out how I can slow down enough to spend time with Him this Christmas. If only I could stop. If only I chose to slow down. If only I decided to stay a while, breathe and whisper "Ah, there you are"

In the middle of all the expectations of the oncoming Christmas season, the only one that really counts surely is him. It's not about a season. It's not about expectations. It's not about trimmings and turkey and stuffing and presents...it's about stopping long enough, and often enough to BE with the King of Kings as He graciously welcomes into His presence.

A couple of ideas to get into a place where you can be with Christ this Christmas

• Turn the radio off in the car, and listen to the silence
• Meditate on verses of scripture throughout your day. Chew over what "Wonderul, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of peace"
  
• Set "Sacred Space" as your homepage throughout advent and intentional visit this space-making website of scriptural meditation every day.
• Listen to worship-based Christmas CDs, such as Chris Tomlin's "Glory in the Highest", Andrew Peterson's "Behold the Lamb of God" (my fave), Graham Kendrick's "Dreaming of a Holy Night" rather than the poppy, whimsical fun ones.