He came down with them and
stood on a level place,
with a great crowd of his
disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem,
and the coast of Tyre and Sidon.
They had come to hear him and
to be healed of their diseases;
and those who were troubled
with unclean spirits were cured.
And all in the crowd were
trying to touch him,
for power came out from him
and healed all of them.
Then he looked up at his
disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are
poor, for yours is the kingdom
of God.
“Blessed are you who are
hungry now, for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep
now, for you will laugh.
“Blessed are you when people
hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of
the Son of Man.
Rejoice in that day and leap
for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven;
for that is what their
ancestors did to the prophets.
“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing
now, for you will mourn and weep.
“Woe to you when all speak
well of you,
for that is what their
ancestors did to the false prophets.
***
The young woman stands,
leaning to one side, hip jutted out, her thin back to her friend’s phone
camera, which pans until we see the young woman also has her phone out, and is
watching her video screen. There is part of it that just feels voyeristic
rather than fully appreciative, like the point is to capture him, to take the
man’s music for herself, to expose to the world the juxtaposition of weathered
skin and simple clothes, with the elegance of his song. With the separation of
the screen, she has chosen to keep her distance, rather than be in the music
with him. Then like a lion in a ring, sizing up its opponent, she walks around
him; not something one would do at a concert, but he is not afforded the still
silence to which Bach should ensew, his social status as a homeless man trumps
his artistry. In the camera lens we watch her detract from his performance as
she too is in the limelight of contrast. Her fresh dark curls to his
sun-bleached, untrimmed hair and beard, her model thinness to his tanned skin
wrapped closely around bones. There is a moment she dances, swaying like kid,
the fringe on her purse swings side to side as she smiles and stops again to
enjoy, this time without her camera, at least for moment and she is in it
without, lost herself in the music like an symphony goer who leans their head
back on the edge of the chair closing their eyes and just listens. She moves to
his front and side and places her hand on her chin, as if she is realizing
there is more than meets the eye. But with that realization comes her need to
make it about her, and she begins to video again, as if you can capture a song
in snippets, as if you can capture live sound on a phone’s camera. She tells
her friend, mid-song, “Do you know how hard this piece is to play,” and when
the friend doesn’t hear, she repeats it louder, “Do you know how hard this
piece is to play?” There is a way she wants him to be seen, and uses power of
her voice to the end, but by speaking she makes her voice drone out his song,
distracting the viewer, when perhaps just giving her full attention would have
done the same, if not more.
But there is a way in which
his hat on the piano allows it, welcomes it, but keeps the system intact, the
one with having power over the one without. Soon in the corner of the camera we
see her slide open her black leather wallet and pull out a couple bills,
pushing back some more. She unfolds them, inspecting how much to give, all
while keeping the decision hidden from him, though not the camera. She says,
“This is really cool,” and it feels like justifying herself, as she walks
forward to his hat.
“Its good to see you,” she
interrupts as he plays, and over his refined Bach, he responds, with the same
casual speech, “it was good to see you too,” and she walks away, a piece of him
in her purse, a piece of her purse on his piano. It wasn’t the end he might
have been used to whoever it was he learned to play, when the conductor circles
and pinches his hands and there is that pause before the clapping starts. We
don’t know when it ends, because the camera shuts off, as we assume the friends
leave together.
The video would go viral,
without his permission, without his knowing, without his name. The next day the
camera holder would go back, find him, video him, while they told him the news.
They would ask him about his music background - playing his whole life, and in
the marine corp, and all over the world, going to school for music theory,
playing everything from the piccolo to the tuba. And still videoing they would
ask how long he’d been homeless, and tell him that they hoped someone would
find him a job, not in construction for which he said he had skills, but in
music, because they saw his gift. But missed the reality of the system, that
this mans hands had been worth more in labor than pleasure. But they knew the
reality, like woman speaking over his song, that it just might take someone from
the outside plucking him out of his poverty, for it to be overcome. Other
videos, as he became more famous, show a transformation of his beard being
shaved, his hair trimmed, and playing at an NFL game, and I question if this is
simply more of the same. An outsider’s camera catching him, and a bigger hat
catching the outsider’s purses. It’s the system on a larger scale.
And my question is, when is
he seen as the musician, rather than the homeless musician? When is he seen as
Donald Gould?
“Blessed are you who are
poor, for yours is the kingdom
of God.
“Blessed are you who are
hungry now, for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep
now, for you will laugh.
“Blessed are you when people
hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of
the Son of Man.
Rejoice in that day and leap
for joy,
for surely your reward is
great in heaven;
for that is what their
ancestors did to the prophets.
“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing
now, for you will mourn and weep.
“Woe to you when all speak
well of you,
for that is what their
ancestors did to the false prophets.
Watching this video is
painful, because I identify with the woman, though I see her missteps, how am I
any different, preaching his story, using their video, sharing my voice? Woe,
to me, for I already received my consolation, but I cannot see.
