Discipleship, mentoring, loving, influencing, cultivating excellence of soul, stimulating to excellent thinking--these are some of the intentional goals that fill my soul when I make time to share a meal or have a cup of tea with my children. Even as we observe God pursuing His beloved children--from the Garden of Eden to the last supper with His beloved disciples, we see the heart of God straining to teach, encourage, inspire and to train His beloved chosen ones.
A couple of weeks ago, I asked Sarah to join me for breakfast early as I continue my "discipleship" meals with my children on a regular basis. One of my favorite places of peace in our city is the lovely 5 star hotel, the Broadmoor. We shared a small breakfast and coffee and had heart-connecting conversations which I had planned.
Fresh flowers, artistically shaped into masterpieces bedecked each table. Evidence of skill and cultivation of beauty, art pieces, landscape design confronted us at every juncture. Deciding to take a walk around the small lake to continue pouring into this long planned friendship, we began to slowly walk, seeking to see and appreciate the stolen moments of a beautiful day.
The colors of late summer flowers fairly sang to us as we walked.
But at every point of our walk, we ran into people glued to their i-pads, cell phones, computers--everywhere we went. On our stroll, people did not look at our eyes as we passed, greeting us as used to be the habit. Instead, they hurried, talking into this little mechanical box, missing the glory of the day.
Coming into one of the splendid lobbies to sit for a minute, a mother was dragging her little boy by the scruff of his collar. "I just want you to be quiet so I can have my own time with my friends," she shrieked, scowling each step of the way. "Here, just look at this and entertain yourself and don't bother me." She handed him a game device and he sat there glued for the next half hour not even looking up.
More people, more apparatuses!
The flowers, clouds, swans swimming on the lake were screaming of God, but no one was listening.
The blind and deaf people hastily walked their merry way, scrambling after vanity, hoping for some life-validation through a screen, not even hearing the whisper of God's reality through the colors telling of His glory. Not intentionally noticing a single face to offer a smile or even nod of recognition of another on the trail.
Sarah and I were disgusted with the robotic parade of people who were totally disconnected from the present reality of people, beauty, and relationships to be shared with real live people. Over 20 people on our walk passed us with technology in hand in one of the finest, most beautiful displays of floral architecture in the United States, but totally unaware and preoccupied as they went.
As we rounded the last turn of the lake, we walked into a private lobby on the way to our car and a surprise awaited us.
Lilting, soul-soothing melodies washed over us as we stepped into the light of the lobby. The beauty of the melody was breath-taking. As we rounded the corner, there sat our elfish source of melody--
a be-hatted, older but real man, playing on real piano keys and bringing delight to a gathering crowd.
At the end of his playing, a small, spontaneous crowd had gathered round and gave him applause.
"Tell us about your life," we asked as we lingered to talk with him.
"I have been playing piano my whole life. I am a professor at a college and I love passing on this beauty of skill to as many people who will devote themselves to bringing real music into the worlds of others to bless them. I just passed by this great piano and wanted to validate it's capacity to encourage others here in this wonderful place."
A real man, with a real skill, playing real songs to real people and breathing life, beauty and inspiration into our souls before we left to face the rest of our day.
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Tonight, be sure to join us for a live webinar! (sign up Here!)If you miss the talk when we give it, you can listen to it at any time when you download the conference. We shall have fun being together. Thanks for all who have helped us get the word out.