From Music United: Pause and Play - Tapping into Inspiration in Sacred Stillness
The intensity of Lent and Easter has passed, and if you’re anything like me, you can feel tapped out of ideas and the season can feel like a bit of a lull. Weekly practices start to slow and have more ease through the summer months, and the rush of fall routines and Advent planning hasn’t quite started yet. It’s tempting to label this time as “nothing special”—a holding pattern until the next big thing comes along. But here’s the truth: There’s so much more to this season than we realize.
The season serves as an invitation to slow down, take a breath, and pay attention to the small, everyday moments where God shows up. For church musicians, this isn’t just about hitting pause. It’s about opening ourselves to the quiet spaces and reconnecting to the musical sources of inspiration that enliven us.
Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still, and know that I am God.” A reminder that we don’t have to make grand gestures or perform to encounter the Divine. God shows up in the stillness, in the quiet hum of a song, in the spaces where music leads us to feel something deeper. There’s a reason why a certain melody can make you feel something deep inside, or why words in a hymn resonate at just the right moment. When we’re quiet and reflective, music becomes a kind of prayer, lifting our hearts toward God. This connection between musical inspiration and the Divine is not just coincidence; it’s woven into who we are. We’re created to respond to beauty, harmony, and rhythm, and when we do, we’re tapping into a part of God’s creation that’s been there all along.
So, as the weeks of summer pass and we approach the time when we start to regularly meet for planning worship, I invite you, while you are sitting at your instrument, to flip through a hymnal, not because you have a deadline or a service to plan, but just give yourself permission to explore and let the melodies and words sit. Let them resonate, and when it’s time to step back into the regular momentum of the fall season, you’ll find the music that has always been within you, quietly waiting for you to share it.
To all the amazing church musicians heading into the stillness of the summer months—may you find refreshment and inspiration during this season, and may the music you share lift hearts, calm spirits, and bring people together in ways only music can.
Kara Derma is Membership Coordinator on the Music United Executive. Kara also serves in music ministry with Weird Church, based on the unceded traditional territory of the K'ómoks First Nation, in Cumberland, B.C. For more information on Music United and to receive our membership newsletter, email us at @email. Visit our website (musicunited.com) for information on upcoming events, including Music Matters 2025 hosted by L'église au coeur de la ville /St. James United Church in Montreal, April 24 to 27, 2025.
