buskers

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Waiting For An Outcome That’s Worth It

Sometimes the outcome is worth the wait … and sometimes it’s not.

Mario-+Queen+of+the+Circus

That’s what I found last night when we went to the buskers festival downtown.

I’ve been to them before and seen all kinds of acts. It truly is remarkable what some people can do with their bodies and a few props.

On this trip to watch the street performers, Lily and I mostly witnessed juggling in various forms.

There was the guy who could juggle and eat an apple. There were the guys who juggled between each other, one on a unicycle and the other on a ladder, completely unsupported.

We also saw a guy who juggled two fire sticks and a sledge hammer – that was pretty remarkable.

Being a juggler myself, I found that fascinating. I can only juggle three objects and Lily still won’t let me attempt to juggle eggs from the fridge. … I guess I’m not quite ready to join the cast of performers making a living off the street.

As we moved from one busker to another, we noticed that many of them used similar jokes and lines. I personally found there was way too much similarity between the acts. It would have been nice to see more variety.

All the acts work on the same premise. They have one big trick, feat or demonstration that they are going to show the crowd.

That one thing probably only takes about two or three minutes to perform. They make their living off people donating to their act so, to get people to pay up, they need to build some rapport, and give people something more than a two minute reason to spend $5 or more.

What the buskers do is develop a whole act that takes about thirty minutes, leading up to this one main trick everyone is waiting to see. By then you’ve expended a significant amount of time with them and and they have been able to charm you into being generous with your money.

What I found, however, is that most acts really left you thinking, “Please, get on with it”. I didn’t say it because I’m Canadian, but I had thought of shouting out, “Okay, let’s get to the big trick!”

With most of the acts, I thought they were putting in time. But there was one act Lily and I both agreed kept everyone entertained. I never felt like I wished they’d get to the finale.

I found it to be a lot like preaching. You have a point that you want to make, and then you inform the congregation, illustrate the point to emphasize it, draw some conclusions to it, and hopefully are able to do it in a way that keeps the congregation engaged throughout, and not just hoping you’d get to the end.

Maybe I do have some street performer in me.

Here’s the thing: Following Jesus shouldn’t be like most of those busker acts where you are all focussed on the final feat (heaven). It should be more like that one act we saw, where you are engaged with Jesus and interacting with Him all through life. Christ doesn’t call us to an ending; He calls us to come along with Him in relationship.

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What kind of relationship with Jesus do you have? Leave your comments below.

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Why You Should Keep Things Simple

The other night, my wife, daughter and I went downtown to the Buskers Festival. Years ago buskers were individuals on a street corner who had some kind of talent and were trying to make a few bucks in the summer.

buskers pole guy

Now it’s an industry, with people traveling all over the world to cities bringing them in for festivals. They block off streets and allow large crowds of people to gather round.

At one time, they used to just open their guitar case or throw down a hat and hope people would put money in as they passed by. It’s a little different now.

I hadn’t been down to see the buskers in our city for several years, but I sure noticed something different this year. These performers were into entertainment more that performing their stunts.

I saw three acts and there was no question about their talent and abilities, but I got bored with their acts. They were too long. I wanted to see the pole guy climb the pole more, and do more tricks up there.

Perhaps the guys he picked from the audience to support the pole weren’t as strong as they looked. Maybe he needed to give them a rest in between trips up to the top of his free standing pole. I kind of wanted to see him carry the female volunteer from the crowd up with him.

The lady who could stick her head through her legs was a little creepy, but she could really do the hula hoop … several of them … at one time … all on different appendages.

But she went on and on about how long she had been practicing her craft, and how dangerous it was to do the hula hoop from 7 feet in the air. That’s not even the height of a normal ceiling in a home.

At least the pole guy didn’t talk. I’m not sure if he couldn’t talk or if it was part of the act. But he didn’t go on and on about preferring bills over change like the hula girl did.

I kept looking over and wishing we had gone to the fire guy about a half a block over. I’m not sure what he was doing, but he had fire, and anything with fire is more exciting than a hula hoop or a pole.

I liked seeing these street performers, but the crowds were so big that they all really needed bleachers, which sort of takes away from the “street” part of the performance. My suggestion would be to have more acts, so that the crowds would be smaller around each act and the performers wouldn’t feel they had to talk so much.

I just want to see more amazing tricks, stunts, and talent.

Here’s the thing: There are times when I add things to my devotions that really aren’t part of it. Sometimes I have the inkling to check something like my email before my time with God. All those extra things do is get me distracted from just being with God, listening, learning and talking to Him. I need to remember to keep my time with Him simple and to the point.

Question: What distracts you most when you want to spend time with God? Leave your comment below.