Friday, May 3, 2019

Do you have shining eyes around you?


I’ve listened to a few TED talks in the past, but I really enjoyed the one given in 2008 by Benjamin Zander, a conductor with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.

I am already a bit of a fan of classical music because my piano teacher must have loved it.  My favorite piano book is full of classical pieces that were suitable for me when I was a kid (and still are today, which tells you how much I have progressed since my childhood lessons.)

In his TED talk, Zander draws you in with his excitement over classical music, claiming that the people who do not like it, do not do so, because they are not familiar with it.

He goes through a piece by Chopin and identifies and explains details that the newbie would never pick up, leaving the listener with the idea that they now know something about classical music.

Personally, as I listen to his artistic expression on the piano, I am amazed at how lightly his fingers move across the keys.  How can anyone have that kind of ease?

The other day I heard about someone who created all of his music in his head.  He would simply wake up with entire pieces to put down on paper.

Compare that to me: I have been working on a piano piece—forever.  I have to go over, and over, and over just the first page, to have it sound halfway decent.  It’s a three-page piece.  I will still be trying to perfect it on my deathbed.

Some of us have to work really hard on things that come easy for others.
In his talk, Zander offers a great quote.  He says, “The conductor of an orchestra doesn’t make a sound.  He depends for his power on his ability to make other people powerful.”

Wow.  Think about it.

He says, “My job is to awaken possibility in other people.  How do you know if you are doing that?  You look at their eyes.  If the eyes are shining, you know you’re doing it.  If they are not shining, you get to ask a question: ‘Who am I being that my players eyes are not shining?  We can do that with our children, too.  ‘Who am I being, that my children’s eyes are not shining?’”

“That’s a totally different world.”

He said his definition of success isn’t about “wealth and fame and power,” but about “how many shining eyes I have around me.”

The reason I was turned on to this TED talk is because Dave Ramsey (the entrepreneur guru) used it in his talk about the power of a leader.  It’s a good fit for his purpose, and ours as well, I think, when discussing evangelization.

Evangelization, despite what some people might think, is not a dirty word.  It is not about boring people to death by citing doctrine or disrespecting others by pushing an agenda.  It is not about turning people off religion because we are being obnoxious, or closing our minds and not listening with our hearts.

Evangelization, at its core, is exactly what Zander was talking about.  It is “awakening possibility” in others.  

--Maybe God really does exist and I need to revisit the possibility.
--Maybe Church is important.  Maybe there is more to faith than God and me alone.

--Maybe what I have done is forgivable and God is not mad at me!

In his talk, Zander said that he believes that classical music is for everyone, and his passion for it, as well as his careful explanation and expression of it, does indeed pull back the veil of mystery surrounding it for those who are unfamiliar with it.

By doing this, he increases the likelihood that others may fall in love with the music he lives and breathes.

Should we, as people of faith, do any less?

(You really MUST check out this video.  Click here.)

Janet Cassidy
Janetcassidy.com
Janetcassidy.blubrry.net

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