And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old. As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.
Joshua 14:10-11
For twenty-five years, the Burchardi Church in Halberstadt, Germany, has been playing one of the strangest pieces of music ever composed on a small organ. The piece, entitled “Organ/ASLSP (As SLow As Possible),” was written by John Cage with the unusual instruction that it be played as slowly as possible. Years later, organizers in Halberstadt decided to see just how far that instruction could be taken. They chose a performance lasting 639 years, commemorating the 639 years between the completion of a historic organ in Halberstadt in 1361 and the beginning of their project at the turn of the millennium. The plan is for the song to be completed in 2640. Visitors to the east German town often time their visit to coincide with one of the rare chord changes (there have only been seventeen so far), which break the continuous sound created by a specially constructed organ. Cage, who was known for the experimental nature of his work, died before the performance began. A group called the John Cage Organ Project Halberstadt has committed itself to continuing the project even though the finish line is six centuries away.
While most of the world around us is impatient and in a hurry, there is great value in being willing to wait on God for His purposes and promises to be fulfilled. Of course that does not mean that we sit and do nothing, but that we do not give up hope just because something may have been delayed. There was a forty-five-year gap between when Caleb was promised a possession in Canaan and the time he was given it. Yet he never lost hope, or the vision of what would be accomplished if he remained faithful. “And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance” (Joshua 14:13). We may not know how long the wait will be, but we can live with confident hope that God’s promises will be fulfilled in His perfect time.
