Take the Time to Listen

by Susan Gammage, Baha'i Life Coach

In my Baha’i-inspired life coaching practice, I often work with people who are too busy to appreciate the beauty all around them, and they come to me for ideas on how to bring more moderation into their lives.  I often recommend they stop what they are doing, and listen to some music.

There are a number of passages in the Baha’i Writings in praise of music.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha for example, asserts that “music, sung or played, is spiritual food for soul and heart.  (Baha’u'llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 201)

But what happens when we don’t take time to listen?  To “eat” the spiritual food provided to us?  This story came into my email this morning and I thought it was worth passing along.  You can read more about this story, and hear the music at:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

Something to think about…

Washington DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007: He played
six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx 2,000  people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the
till and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his
watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:

A 3 year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly, as
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. Every parent, without exception,forced them to move on.

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.

1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. 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 Joshua
Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station
was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about
perception, taste and people’s priorities. The questions raised: in a
common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected
context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best
musicians in the world playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ….

How many other things are we missing?

What are your thoughts?  Post your comments here:

Faith - A Baha’i Perspective

by Susan Gammage, Baha'i Life Coach

In my Baha’i-inspired Life Coaching practice, I’m often asked “Why me?”.  Sometimes things aren’t always as they seem.  The Baha’i Writings teach:

Even if all the losses of the world were to be sustained by one of the friends of God, he would still profit thereby . . . The friends of God shall win and profit under all conditions, and shall attain true wealth.  (Bahá’u'lláh, Crisis & Victory, p. 154).

This morning, someone sent me this story via email - forwarded many times.  Although I went onto the internet to find the source, I was unable to find it, so I’ll have to say it’s “Author Unknown”.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  It goes like this:

Two traveling angels stopped to spend the night in the home of a wealthy family. The family was rude and refused to let the angels stay in the mansion’s guest room. Instead the angels were given a small space in   the cold basement. As they made their bed on the hard floor, the older angel saw a hole in the wall and repaired it. When the younger angel asked why, the older angel replied,

‘Things aren’t always what they seem.’

The next night the pair came to rest at the house of a very poor, but very hospitable farmer and his wife. After sharing what little food they had the couple let the angels sleep in their bed where they could have a good night’s rest. When the sun came up the next morning the angels   found the farmer and his wife in tears. Their only cow, whose milk had been their sole income, lay dead in the field. The younger angel was infuriated and asked the older angel how could you have let this happen?  The first man had everything, yet you helped him, she accused. The second family had little but was willing to share everything, and you let the cow die.

‘Things aren’t always what they seem,’ the older angel replied.

‘When we stayed in the basement of the mansion, I noticed there was gold stored in that hole in the wall. Since the owner was so obsessed with greed and unwilling to share his good fortune, I sealed the wall so he wouldn’t find it. ‘ ‘Then last night as we slept in the farmers bed,    the angel of death came for his wife. I gave him the cow instead.

‘Things aren’t always what they seem.’

Sometimes that is exactly what happens when things don’t turn out the way they should. If you have faith, you just need to trust that every outcome is always to your advantage. You just might not know it until some time later..

My favorite quote from the Baha’i Writing on faith is:

. . . nothing shall be impossible to you if you have faith. And now I give you a command¬ment that shall be for a covenant between you and me - that ye have faith; that your faith be steadfast as a rock that no earthly storms can move, that nothing can disturb, and that it endure through all things even to the end . . . As ye have faith so shall your powers and blessings be. This is the balance - this is the balance - this is the balance.
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í Readings, p. 313.

What has been your experience with faith that things not always as they seem?  Post your comments here: