{"id":1713,"date":"2011-05-12T18:58:22","date_gmt":"2011-05-12T18:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com\/community\/karenspearszacharias\/?p=1713"},"modified":"2011-05-12T18:58:22","modified_gmt":"2011-05-12T18:58:22","slug":"the-art-of-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/karenspearszacharias\/2011\/05\/12\/the-art-of-living\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Living"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/iframe>\n<\/p>You may remember when internationally acclaimed virtuoso Joshua Bell sat up camp at a DC\u2019s L\u2019Enfant Plaza Metro station? Bell performed six classical pieces as nearly 1,100 people passed by him. A handful of people paused. One lady stopped to really listen.She had heard him perform at the Library of Congress days before. \u00a0She understood the value of the man masterfully playing the \u00a0$3.5 million Strad at the Metro station on a busy Friday morning.\u00a0But truth be told, the lottery machine drew far more interest than the musician.<\/p>\nBell began his subway stop by playing \u201cChaconne\u201d from Johann Sebastian Bach\u2019s Partita No. 2 in D Minor. He described it as \u201cspiritually powerful piece, emotionally powerful, structurally perfect.\u201d<\/p>\nWhat Bell didn\u2019t say is that it is one of the hardest violin pieces to master. Here\u2019s how the Washington Post <\/em>described it: \u201cExhaustingly long \u2014 14 minutes \u2014 and consists entirely of a single, succinct musical progression repeated in dozens of variations to create a dauntingly complex architecture of sound. Composed around 1720, on the eve of the European Enlightenment, it is said to be a celebration of the breadth of human possibility.\u201d<\/p>\nWhich brings me to what struck me about all of this.\u00a0Almost everyone passed by Bell with barely a nod of gratitude.\u00a0We are so quick to do that, brush by people in a hurry to get on with more important matters. Consequential life-changing tasks, right?<\/p>\nThen the LORD God formed man of\u00a0dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and\u00a0man became a living being.<\/em><\/p>\nWe are in such a rush to swap and consume information and\/or material goods that<\/p>\nWe don\u2019t even notice\u00a0that person standing in our midst<\/p>\nExhaling and inhaling.<\/p>\nWe don\u2019t understand how hard their lives may be<\/p>\nOr how hard they have worked at the Art of Living.<\/p>\nWe don\u2019t acknowledge them<\/p>\nOr the gifts they have to offer.<\/p>\nIf only we understood their true value<\/p>\nWe\u2019d act differently.\u00a0We\u2019d treat them respectfully, with honor \u2014 the way a person who embodies the breath of God deserves be treated \u2014<\/p>\nWouldn\u2019t we?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You may remember when internationally acclaimed virtuoso Joshua Bell sat up camp at a DC\u2019s L\u2019Enfant Plaza Metro station? Bell performed six classical pieces as nearly 1,100 people passed by him. A handful of people paused. One lady stopped to really listen.She had heard him perform at the Library of Congress days before. \u00a0She understood […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[220,404,636,789,894,1092,1828],"class_list":["post-1713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-breath-of-god","tag-dc","tag-genesis","tag-humanity","tag-joshua-bell","tag-metro","tag-violin"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>The Art of Living<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"You may remember when internationally acclaimed virtuoso Joshua Bell sat up camp at a DC's L'Enfant Plaza Metro station? 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