No Music?!

My brother told me about this composer named John Cage who wrote a song simply titled "4'33"". The song is incredibly abstract. Some would call it a waste of time and talent and others would call it pure genius. Basically it is 4 minutes and 33 seconds of absolute silence. What is even crazier is that this piece does have movements as well. First of all, the music piece shows that there is no complete silence and that everything is music. In the video you'll hear the hum of electricity, people coughing (especially between movements), and much more. It also teaches we the listeners to be still and listen, something that is easy to do when music is playing, but very hard to do when nothing is happening.

The announcers in the video after the piece described the environment as "tense". Like I said before, being still is easy to do when music is playing because it allows your mind to work on something. You can think on lyrical content, an amazing guitar solo, the harmonies sung, and much more. In church settings nowadays, music is CONSTANTLY being played. There is always noise and something happening, especially at youth services I've been to. They even feel a need to play music when an altar call happens because it helps "set the moment."

Now, I am someone who loves music. I love listening to music when I'm working, writing, cleaning my room, hanging out with friends, whatever. God initially used a band named 12 Stones to help bring me to Him. However, it can be so easy for people, especially me, to get so consumed by music that we forget about the world around us.

This can be seen especially in gyms. A friend of mine who goes to Cardio Express told me once that he noticed practically everyone around him had earbuds on, listening to something while they were working out. In my experiences working at Sports Authority I've seen customers wearing earbuds while they're shopping. A student I see regularly at Eastern plays pool with a group of friends while wearing earbuds. He rarely talks to them as a result.

It got to the point where I as well could not go a day without listening to some form of music. I feel like I always have a song stuck in my head. Whenever I'm going through a trial, I even find myself going through my internal music library trying to find songs describing situations I've been through. At times it is comforting, but is it always right?

Recently, I felt it strongly put on my heart to take an extensive break from listening to music. I took off the cover of my stereo so I couldn't listen to the radio on my way to/from work, and did not access my iTunes library. I found myself bored sometimes, especially when driving. I was annoyed at times too, because I could hear noises I was trying to shut out, but couldn't. I even found myself making up my own music: singing songs, beatboxing, drumming on the steering wheel, etc. I even started playing my guitar again! (Not while I was driving, of course.)

More importantly, though, it caused me to pray much more. I found myself reciting more scriptures: some I haven't looked at for awhile and others I was trying to memorize. I also heard God speak to me much more as well. American society can be so LOUD that it can be hard to get quiet and hear that "still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12).

Is it possible to get quiet before God?

Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"

So it is possible...I think about when in Mark 1:35, Jesus got up early in the morning before the sun came up (probably around 4am), and went to pray. Back in those days, it must have been so quiet. No hum of car engines, no televisions, no music, no airplanes, nothing. He probably just heard his heartbeat and the blood pump in his head. Jesus got that quiet, and as Christians I think we should make time to get that quiet: where there is no music, no crowds of people talking, no television blaring, but just you and God.

Will you do that? Try it out...

God bless you,

Steve