In the Presence of the Virtuoso

For many years in my youth I was the friendly backstage gate guard at Meadow Brook Music FestivalThe summer home of the Detroit Symphony OrchestraIt was a lot of fun. I’ve got many stories.There were a few times when I was recruited to pick up a soloist from the airportAnd once the soloist, a violinist whose name I do not remember, wanted to stop for foodWe went to a modest family restaurant, and there were lots of people inThat evening, maybe 5,000 people would watch him playBut not a person in that restaurant had any idea who he wasI remember thinking, “Wow. We never know if there’s a world-renowned talent at the next tableOne of these people may have already paid for their ticket tonightAnd can’t wait to see this guy, and have no idea he’s sitting right next to them.”Mass market celebrity is easy to notice - actors, musicians, athletesBut there’s a whole world of top-level talent we can’t necessarily identifyWriters, painters, musicians outside your favorite genreScientists, doctors who invented life-saving procedures, people who will be named saintsSo many individuals who maybe even changed your own lifeSitting next to you in a dinerJust being humanThe opposite of the “do you know who I am?” trope.Jewish philosopher Martin Buber believed God lives in the worldAnd we know the divine through dialogue and relationship, embraceThis paradigm evaporates objectification, meeting what’s outside of us as “it”And prepares us to treat all we encounter as “Thou”With reverence, honor, careAnd thereby know God and be in relationship with God through and as each otherWhat a powerful orientationIt lets us meet everyone as the unidentified superstar they are.So the next time you’re in a restaurantGive a knowing smile to the person beside youThey might be BanksyThey’re definitely an expression of the divineEven if they may be chewing very, very loudly. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit fallingtenderly.substack.com