Slow down and take time with your families and remember why we celebrate

By Pastor Grant Cotton
Clearview Community Church

I read this article the other week and wanted to share with those who will read this.

“At a metro station in Washing on a January morning a man with a violin played for 1 hour. During that time many passed by. A man noticed that there was a musician playing, slowed, then hurried on. A short time later, the violinist received his first dollar from a woman who threw money in the violin case but continued walking. A young man leaned against the wall to listen then looked at his watch and walked on. A 3 year old boy stopped but his mother moved him along as he continued to look back. This was repeated often. As the musician continued people would briefly stop and listen. A few gave money. The man collected $32. When he finished playing no one noticed.

The violinist was Joshua Bell, a world class violinist. He played Bach with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before he sold-out a theatre where seats averaged over $100. The social experiment organized by the Washington Post raises many questions but maybe the most important one is this: If we cannot stop and listen to a great musician, playing wonderful music, with a beautiful instrument… How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?”

We hear the Christmas songs and Scriptures year after year which causes their wonder to wear off. But what if we imagine that we are reading and hearing them for the very first time? What if we stop, listen and experience the wonder of what we are celebrating like we did the very first time? Just maybe we could find our joy renewed. This is my prayer for all who read this, slow down and take time with your families and remember why we celebrate.

Merry Christmas to all!