Minister's Moment

My time with the Pause/Play Center for Preachers Cohort began on July 1, but the first (and biggest) event that we will have together happened at the end of July – The Pause/Play Conference!

The Conference is open to any pastor who would like to attend (and I would love to return year after year, if I could). Those of us who attended, both cohort members and others, spent time together exploring what it means to both Pause and Play, and how that affects our preaching, our ministries, and our own self-care.

The first day was all about “Pause,” and the first keynote started in a fascinating way. Our keynoter asked if any of us had heard of a composer and music theorist named John Cage. Some had; I had not. Cage wrote music that was (and is) different than many others. He was fascinating.

The piece of music that our keynoter pointed us to is called ORGAN2/ASLSP (As Slow As Possible). Cage composed it in 1987 as an adaptation of his 1985 composition ASLSP for piano, which was commissioned by The Friends of the Maryland Summer Institute for the Creative and Performing Arts. The idea is in the title. Cage wants this composition as slow as possible.

St. Burchardi Church in Halberstadt, Germany, is currently taking on the challenge of this piece. The performance, played on a specially crafted organ, where chords change by moving pipes in and out and air moves constantly through the bellows using sandbags, began in 2001 and is due to end in 2640. The piece begins with a rest. The rest began on September 5, 2001 and ended when the first chord played on February 5, 2003. Next chord – July 5, 2008; next chord – July 5, 2012; next chord – February 5, 2024. St. Burchardi Church is selling tickets for the next chord change, scheduled for August 5, 2026. Road trip?

We live in a fast-paced world. We multi-task. We “rise and grind.” We overcommit. We must do all the things all the time … and we must do them as soon as possible.

But what if there is another way? Look at the story of creation. God didn’t rush. First day – light and dark; Second day – sky and water; Third day – part the waters for land; Fourth – sun, moon, and stars; Fifth and Sixth – animals and humanity; and Day Seven – rest.

God could have done it all at once. The sun, moon, and stars provide light. God could have done them the same day as light and dark. Days five and six – sea creatures and birds THEN land animals and humans. God moved As Slow As Possible.

What does this mean for us? How can we change our understanding of ASAP? And how can that change affect our daily lives and our connection with the Divine?

As we move into fall, with all the programs and extra-curriculars going full steam ahead, I want to invite us to take some time to move as slow as possible. Even just an hour. And let’s see where we can find God there.

Many blessings,

Pastor Ann