How would we react if this calamity happened in our neighborhood? Personally, I’d probably hunker down in my house, only going out in public when I had no other choice.

Vedran Smailovic reacted quite differently. Rather than hunkering down, the professional Sarajevo cellist decided to honor the victims by giving public concerts outdoors for each of the next 22 days. Dressed in full concert attire, the cellist performed Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor and other pieces day after day among the debris in the war-torn city.

I’d give anything to have an ounce of his courage.

He could have easily been shot down as he played and been yet another victim of the war's senseless ethnic cleansing. But he survived, and his story provides a powerful testimony to the power of music to provide hope and to give comfort in the darkest of times, in the grimmest of places.



What a stark contrast, the grief stricken cellist playing beautiful music with all of his soul amongst the rubble of buildings blasted apart by  the savagery of war.  The cellist's love of humanity and his concern for his fellow man pitted against symbols of a war that knows no humanity, that has an utter disregard for the value of human life. 

There are very few people that, through their actions, can directly change the world as Vedran did. There are many of us, however, that can help make our communities a better place. And in doing so, collectively, we too can help make the world a better place, one compassionate act at a time.

Music is certainly part of the equation toward making the world a better place…ever seen a kid lose him or herself performing a piece of music or have you experienced a time when you've forgotten about your physical or emotional ailments while listening to a piece of music? If so, you know its power. 

Music has the emotional power to change our moods, to conjure up forgotten memories of friends and times long ago.  At its best, a musical creation can even provide us with a glimpse of the Ultimate Creator, as though these notes were drawn directly from the hand of God and performed with the help of His spirit. 

But not everyone was created with the gift to make and share music. I’m quite confident however, that each of us was given a gift or two to make the world a better place. Opportunities are all around us to:

• Coach a basketball team
• Mentor students over a lunch hour
• Volunteer at community shelter
• Visit people in a nursing home
• Participate in a fundraiser for a local non-profit

I think the key is, to identify your gifts and then use them. When we’re doing what we were created to do, when we're participating in activities we're passionate about, we don't feel as though we are working. We enjoy using our gifts in this way, in fact, the entire experience of using them is refreshing spiritually.

Hillary Clinton was once maligned for her book, It Takes a Village (to raise a child). Her detractors said that instead, it takes a parent to raise a child.

They’re both right.