Too Busy for the Important Things in Life?
On a private bulletin board, we have been having a discussion regarding a Washington Post reporter’s “experiment” wherein noted violinist Joshua Bell played six classical pieces over a 43 minute period in a busy Metro station
The link is to the article is at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
Most of the people passing by did not break stride for a moment. Seven out of 1097 stopped to listen and 27 gave a total of $32. Yes, it was morning rush hour, but the thought of so many passing on the opportunity to hear a beautiful concert for free has given us all much food for thought. One of the contributors to our board linked a couple of factors as a possible cause for this ignoring of truly beautiful music: “In addition to being a sad commentary on the busyness in our daily lives what does it also say about the influence that the pop culture mentality, "what's hot today" mindset we have? Because many of those same people who walked by the musician in the subway station would have also paid $100 for a concert featuring this virtuoso if he were playing down the Mall at the Kennedy Center. We don't recognize beauty until someone tells us something, or someone is so.”
My recent contribution to the conversation on the other board:
I think you both have hit upon two factors that are more tied to each other than we might want to think: "the 'what's hot today' mindset" and our overwhelming busy-ness. I see a linkage in that much of the time we end up being so busy because we are caught up in a consumer driven culture that leads us to think we "need" to buy or consume whatever marketers have told us is "hot," even when that means we will need to work longer and harder to find the money to pay for that latest craze.
Benjamin Barber, the author of Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole is making the talk show circuit right now, expanding on the premise of his title. His book is polarizing (the Amazon reviewers are split with 5 giving the book three to five stars and another 5 rating it with only one star), but he raises some important points especially for Christians. How much is our worldview impacted or even corrupted by the pursuit of wants that we have elevated to needs?
One of Barber's points is that the church has too often adopted a consumerist mindset itself and thus has lost the role it once played in helping its members (and society) understand the need for self-sacrifice and concern for how our every decision affects others.
Barber's thesis is enough for its own topic, but I wonder if we might avoid missing our own Joshua Bell moments. As we plan our summer activities, can we decide to go sit with our kids on a river-bank and look in the grass for the creatures there instead of spending gas and money to go to an animal park a hundred miles away? Could we invite a family from another culture over for a cross-cultural meal--and fellowship--instead of spending money for an expensive restaurant where we might or might not experience "authentic" cuisine of their country? And if we are out for a walk when some community church might still be ringing its bells in the evening, perhaps we can just stop and listen and ponder how church bells have rung out the news of Christ's love down through history.
Busy lives and the next new thing--can we use our worldview studies to help combat the pernicious effects of this combination of factors?
The link is to the article is at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
Most of the people passing by did not break stride for a moment. Seven out of 1097 stopped to listen and 27 gave a total of $32. Yes, it was morning rush hour, but the thought of so many passing on the opportunity to hear a beautiful concert for free has given us all much food for thought. One of the contributors to our board linked a couple of factors as a possible cause for this ignoring of truly beautiful music: “In addition to being a sad commentary on the busyness in our daily lives what does it also say about the influence that the pop culture mentality, "what's hot today" mindset we have? Because many of those same people who walked by the musician in the subway station would have also paid $100 for a concert featuring this virtuoso if he were playing down the Mall at the Kennedy Center. We don't recognize beauty until someone tells us something, or someone is so.”
My recent contribution to the conversation on the other board:
I think you both have hit upon two factors that are more tied to each other than we might want to think: "the 'what's hot today' mindset" and our overwhelming busy-ness. I see a linkage in that much of the time we end up being so busy because we are caught up in a consumer driven culture that leads us to think we "need" to buy or consume whatever marketers have told us is "hot," even when that means we will need to work longer and harder to find the money to pay for that latest craze.
Benjamin Barber, the author of Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole is making the talk show circuit right now, expanding on the premise of his title. His book is polarizing (the Amazon reviewers are split with 5 giving the book three to five stars and another 5 rating it with only one star), but he raises some important points especially for Christians. How much is our worldview impacted or even corrupted by the pursuit of wants that we have elevated to needs?
One of Barber's points is that the church has too often adopted a consumerist mindset itself and thus has lost the role it once played in helping its members (and society) understand the need for self-sacrifice and concern for how our every decision affects others.
Barber's thesis is enough for its own topic, but I wonder if we might avoid missing our own Joshua Bell moments. As we plan our summer activities, can we decide to go sit with our kids on a river-bank and look in the grass for the creatures there instead of spending gas and money to go to an animal park a hundred miles away? Could we invite a family from another culture over for a cross-cultural meal--and fellowship--instead of spending money for an expensive restaurant where we might or might not experience "authentic" cuisine of their country? And if we are out for a walk when some community church might still be ringing its bells in the evening, perhaps we can just stop and listen and ponder how church bells have rung out the news of Christ's love down through history.
Busy lives and the next new thing--can we use our worldview studies to help combat the pernicious effects of this combination of factors?
posted by hl at
7:45 PM
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