4' 33"

One of the most well-known of the Psalms is Psalm 46; specifically Psalm 46:10a, which reads, "Be still, and know that I am God!"

I don't know about you, but I wish I heeded that advice more, especially in times where it seems there is so much coming at us we can feel like we are on sensory overload.

As I was considering the idea of being still, my mind wandered back to one of the most interesting compositions of the 20th century, John Cage's 1952 classic titled, "Four Minutes, 33 seconds." This composition was unique in that when the musician reads the score, they see a piece in three movements. And, well, allow me to quote an article about this piece NPR ran a few years ago:

[T]he provisionally entitled "Four Pieces," Tudor starts a stopwatch, sits down in front of the piano, closes the lid and begins a performance in which he never plays a note.

After 30 seconds of silence, Tudor resets the stopwatch and times another two minutes, 23 seconds of silence, then another one minute, 40 seconds of silence. But is it silence?

In the Maverick that night, one could likely hear the sound of the breeze in the trees, rain pattering lightly on the rooftop, the chirping of crickets, a dog barking aimlessly somewhere in the distance, the sound of bodies shifting their weight on creaky pine benches, the sound of breath being drawn and being expired.

This was music for John Cage. And unlike compositions designed to make the outside world fall away, here was a music that, when it engaged you, made the present world open up like a lotus blossoming in stop-motion photography.

Today's Let's Do Lunch is merely an invitation to take four minutes and thirty-three seconds to be still. Be still and know God. Be still, and allow for a time of being, not doing. As the writer of the above article notes, "Is it silence?"

Or, might it just be God speaking to us in ways we might not have appreciated.

Either way, take the 4' 33". You just don't know what God might have in store for you in the world around you if you but take the time to be still.

Grace and Peace,
Lamar

PS - Here's the link to the original article on John Cage's work: https://www.npr.org/2000/05/08/1073885/4-33