At Wynyard Park

1st July 2010 by David Brice

When I started working at THQ there was something really cool about working in the city. It was all new and interesting. There was an energy about the place. Well, that lasted for at least three days.

Very quickly I became frustrated with it all. It was like there was all these unwritten rules about travelling into the city. Firstly, you can't smile. Secondly, you can't talk to anyone. In fact, you shouldn't even acknowledge that there is anyone around you. Just crank up the ipod, harden your face, and march on like a lonely soldier going into battle...

Ok, maybe I'm being a little cynical! There was one guy who stood out to me though. A busker. Every Friday he was there by Wynyard Station playing his guitar for the masses and beaming as though he was the luckiest guy in the world. This confused me a bit, particularly because no one seemed to pay him any attention. I decided one day to chat to him and discovered one of the friendliest people. I asked if I could buy one of his albums and as I walked away I flipped it over and began to read.

"My experience playing out on the street has convinced me that the people of Sydney are just absolutely beautiful, inside and out, and I am really lucky to be in a position to see it day after day..."

And on and on he goes about how special these people are. Wow! Somehow this guy had been able to see a beauty in these same people that I was complaining about! I was really challenged by this. As a Christian I'm sure this should have been my attitude.

As I look at the life of Jesus I see this guy who loved to step into all the messy places of the world and associate with all the kinds of people that everyone else loved to hate. And Jesus loved them. Somehow he saw something in them that was beautiful and was able to love them in a way that was powerful!

So, I'm challenged. Challenged to see past the surface messyness, coldness, and harshness of people's lives and to see something else underneath. To see beautiful people created by, and in the image of God, and who are deeply loved by him. If we can do this I think we can love them in a way which is powerful.

Dave

Comments

Melanie

July 01, 2010 at 1:52pm

Thanks David. Great reminder. I want to have the mind-set that I am the most fortunate of people, getting to serve others out of the love I have found.

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!Relle

July 02, 2010 at 10:01am

Thanks Dave, I love it when you said, 'Somehow this guy had been able to see a beauty in these same people that I was complaining about!'..... makes me want to look at people that really annoy me and intentionally find what beauty is in them!

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