Today was a beautiful day, so when I went to the nearby grocery store to pick up a sandwich on my lunch hour, I decided to just eat in my car with the windows open. The sidewalk outside the store was covered with pots of brightly colored flowers for sale and there was lovely music playing. It was very peaceful.
As I sat there I thought—how curious that they should be piping this beautiful music outside. It certainly went with the sunshine and the flowers, but it just didn’t seem like the sort of thing a supermarket would do. How nice. How surprising.
It was only when I was began driving away that I saw the young woman playing harp outside the store. A harp at the grocery store! Too bad I had to go back to work. I wished I could listen more. And then I thought about Joshua Bell in the subway. And I thought about time. And I parked the car and got out to tell her how much I’d enjoyed listening.
It was good to stop. Good to make myself stop. It really didn’t take very long, and we all need to say thank you when we can.
To echo Meister Eckhardt, “If the only prayer you ever say is thank you, it is enough.”
I would like to think I would of stopped =)
Imagine having a gift like Joshua Bell or your harpist and having offered it up to the public receive no response. Thank you for stopping.
Butyou know, because someone told the story of Joshua Bell, his playing has now touched folks outside that subway. I guess sometimes when you offer a gift, you don’t always know who’ll receive it.