He thought for a minute. “I know Take Four, but I haven’t messed around with Five lately. I’ll try though.” You could see the concentration in his face, the colors of music flitting through his head with creativity and flowing out the bell of his horn. This man had soul. He had passion.
Brittany, Blair, and I struck up a conversation and talked with Sydney for about an hour. He was an amazing man from the streets of Miami who moved to the Atlanta area about eight years ago. He was a music teacher and jazz musician. There was absolutely no way that you could mistake his passion for music. It was his heartbeat.
And although Sydney had been teaching for years, he lost his job because of budget cuts. I was shocked by it. How could a school let such a phenomenal musician go? Someone of his caliber was pouring into students? Why cut him?
Now Sydney plays place to place, picking up a few gigs here and there, he can’t find a job that’s steady, and so he’s standing on rocky ground. He’s finding that God is providing his every need though. He said, “I’ve not lost any weight, I have places to sleep with friends, places to shower, to do my laundry. God’s using others to take care of me.”
I’m always flabbergasted at such faith. This guy has definitely been through the ringer in his life. He shared more of his story with us. It’s incredible.
And how often do we not do that? We almost never engage in strangers’ lives. We never learn their story. Is it that we just don’t care or that we’re afraid that they’re going to ask us for help? Heaven forbid that happen…. (said with much sarcasm).
That was another thing that stood out to me. Sydney said that he had been playing around for several nights and we were the first people to walk up to him and talk… and we talked for a long time.
It’s amazing the impact that a simple conversation can have on someone.
Go have one today. Get over yourself, your fears, and your prejudices… and go love someone by listening to their story. There’s no pressure to change them or convert them. If that’s your agenda, then don’t do it. Just go in wanting to love them.
And sometimes… that means just listening.
