Vol 22 - Oct 2009
A letter from the Coordinator...
This is a true story and some of you may have read it. But like all good stories offering insights into the human condition, it bears repeating.
A man sat at a Metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle-aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy.
His mother in a hurry, dragged him along, but the child stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. Several other children repeated this action. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a hile. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32.
When he finished playing and silence took over and no one noticed it. 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 made by the famous Stradivarius worth $3.5 million.
Two days before playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theatre in Boston and 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 priorities of people.
When I read this story, I thought how often – because of our busy lives and our preoccupation with our own problems and concerns – we miss moments of beauty and goodness around us and in the lives of others. The story relates an event in a commonplace environment (the Metro station); at an inappropriate hour (rush hour) and people hurried past, missing the the music and talent of the violinist.
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
The story suggests another question: How often do we take time to stop and listen to the concerns and suffering of others?
It is a question I asked myself after our Welcome Day here at the House of Welcome on Wednesday, 26 August 2009. It was a wonderful occasion providing the opportunity for our volunteers and staff to meet and chat with many of our clients and friends.
During the course of a conversation with one client, someone I have known for more than four years, I heard for the first time, the details of the horrifying and violent torture and death of some of his family members.
Although many years had passed since their deaths, the sorrow and pain of these terrible events were deeply etched in his face as he shared his memories. Even as he gets on with his life here in Australia, the burden of these memories remains. Hopefully, with the passage of time, the burden will lighten. I listened with a mixture of anguish and hopelessness, struggling to comprehend yet again, how human beings can treat other humans in such brutal and bestial ways. That evening on the news, I heard that the Taliban had cut off the ears and nose of man who had voted at the recent elections. Today, as I write this editorial (5 September 2009), there is news that American planes attacked a target. Among the 90 killed, about 55 were ‘insurgents’, the rest were innocent civilians – they are called collateral damage! Our (human) capacity for brutality knows no bounds.
However, on a more uplifting note, there is a wonderful song written by the Aboriginal songwriters Paul Kelly and Kevin Carmody called “From Little Things Big Things Grow”.
It tells the story of one man’s peaceful protest against big business. In the 1960s, Aboriginal stockmen went on strike at the NT Wave Hill station. Led by Gurindji man Vincent Lingiari, they walked off the job and set up a camp at a place called Wattie Creek. The dispute over wages and conditions (terrible slave like conditions) turned into a demand for land rights. It dragged on for years before eventually being resolved by the Whitlam government.
So while we may not be able to solve all the world’s problems and wipe out violence, like Vincent Lingiari, we can do little things such as acts of kindness and perhaps from them, big things may grow.
With warm regards,
Jim Carty
Coordinator
PS. I hesitate to draw attention to one photo but feel obliged to do so in order to express my thanks. Some of the volunteers discovered that it was the 70th birthday of one of the staff. To mark the occasion an elaborate cake was presented and, after the customary song, consumed with relish.
A man sat at a Metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle-aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy.
His mother in a hurry, dragged him along, but the child stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. Several other children repeated this action. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a hile. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32.
When he finished playing and silence took over and no one noticed it. 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 made by the famous Stradivarius worth $3.5 million.
Two days before playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theatre in Boston and 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 priorities of people.
When I read this story, I thought how often – because of our busy lives and our preoccupation with our own problems and concerns – we miss moments of beauty and goodness around us and in the lives of others. The story relates an event in a commonplace environment (the Metro station); at an inappropriate hour (rush hour) and people hurried past, missing the the music and talent of the violinist.
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
The story suggests another question: How often do we take time to stop and listen to the concerns and suffering of others?
It is a question I asked myself after our Welcome Day here at the House of Welcome on Wednesday, 26 August 2009. It was a wonderful occasion providing the opportunity for our volunteers and staff to meet and chat with many of our clients and friends.
During the course of a conversation with one client, someone I have known for more than four years, I heard for the first time, the details of the horrifying and violent torture and death of some of his family members.
Although many years had passed since their deaths, the sorrow and pain of these terrible events were deeply etched in his face as he shared his memories. Even as he gets on with his life here in Australia, the burden of these memories remains. Hopefully, with the passage of time, the burden will lighten. I listened with a mixture of anguish and hopelessness, struggling to comprehend yet again, how human beings can treat other humans in such brutal and bestial ways. That evening on the news, I heard that the Taliban had cut off the ears and nose of man who had voted at the recent elections. Today, as I write this editorial (5 September 2009), there is news that American planes attacked a target. Among the 90 killed, about 55 were ‘insurgents’, the rest were innocent civilians – they are called collateral damage! Our (human) capacity for brutality knows no bounds.
However, on a more uplifting note, there is a wonderful song written by the Aboriginal songwriters Paul Kelly and Kevin Carmody called “From Little Things Big Things Grow”.
It tells the story of one man’s peaceful protest against big business. In the 1960s, Aboriginal stockmen went on strike at the NT Wave Hill station. Led by Gurindji man Vincent Lingiari, they walked off the job and set up a camp at a place called Wattie Creek. The dispute over wages and conditions (terrible slave like conditions) turned into a demand for land rights. It dragged on for years before eventually being resolved by the Whitlam government.
So while we may not be able to solve all the world’s problems and wipe out violence, like Vincent Lingiari, we can do little things such as acts of kindness and perhaps from them, big things may grow.
With warm regards,
Jim Carty
Coordinator
PS. I hesitate to draw attention to one photo but feel obliged to do so in order to express my thanks. Some of the volunteers discovered that it was the 70th birthday of one of the staff. To mark the occasion an elaborate cake was presented and, after the customary song, consumed with relish.
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