We Welcome You to 

The Church of the Good Shepherd 

(Episcopal)

680 Race Brook Road, Orange, Connecticut 06477 •  203-795-6577

RECTOR'S PAGE

Dear Friends,
     It is summer. Kids are out of school. People travel to the mountains or the sea. Families gather from across great distances. New adventures are taken. It is a time when there are many interruptions to our normal routines. Some are blessed with second homes or places that their families have gone for generations. These can remind us who we are and be places of peace and renewal. Because these activities pull us out of our habitual ruts, we often pay more attention to what is going on around us. We take pictures of things, because we think they are special. We have a heightened awareness of the world and its glories. It is a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to have our eyes open, to have our hearts open, and to give thanks to God for all that we are given. Why is it that we have so hard a time being aware of the glories that surround us when we are at home pursuing our normal activities. Here is a story. I do not know where I found it and apologize for the lack of attribution.

      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 thousand 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 tagged him along, hurried but 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. 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 while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace.

      He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, 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 worth 3.5 million dollars.

     Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $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. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

      May our eyes and ears and hearts remain always open to perceive the glories of God in this world. Or as Robert L. Stevenson put it, “The world is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.” Have a great summer.

In Christ,
Bevan Stanley

(The Reverend Dr.) E. Bevan Stanley

Interim Rector

 

Sermons : May 16th      May 23rd       June 6th       June 20th

Church email: thegoodshepherd@optonline.net 

Rector's email: bevanstanleyCGS@optonline.net