Organ
31/01/19 04:07
Last night I was up in the pipe chamber in our church’s organ. I climbed in through a short door and under a deck of oaks of pipes, opened another door into the lower part of the great organ behind a huge air chest, climbed a short latter and through a third door into the swell organ and rom there climbed up onto a narrow catwalk, all the time being careful not to touch any of the pipes that surrounded me. The purpose of my trip was to stop a cipher. There was one pipe, a C in the rhorflute, that was sounding continuously. In an organ with over 4,000 pipes, this isn’t a problem if you happen to be playing in the key of C, but if the music calls for a B flat, there is a dissonant sound. Ciphers are caused by a wide variety of problems in the instrument. A bit of dust or an insect can get into the valve, crating a mechanical issue so that the valve at the bottom of the pipe does not close fully and some air is allowed to travel into the pipe. The problem can also be electronic, with the solenoid that operates the valve sticking or not getting the right amount of current. Many times the problem resolves itself, which is what happened last night. As I was trying to discern just which pipe as sounding, the sound went away. Most likely there was a little bit of sticking in the switch, perhaps caused by a buildup of lubrication or some other substance. As the instrument warmed up the heat freed the stick valve and it closed properly.
The next step for me was to carefully reverse my path, turning off lights and closing doors as I went back through the instrument. As is typical for me, I bumped my head on a low passage. No serious injury occurred, but it was a reminder that I am not as agile as once was the case. There was just enough of a bump on my head to remind me, later in the evening of what I had done. It got me to thinking.
The word organ comes from the Latin and it simply means “instrument.” We use it in a wide variety of different ways.
I have a cousin who is a lifelong farmer, rancher and steward of land. Over the years, he departed from the way the previous generation farmed dryland wheat in the Missouri Breaks. Influenced in part by the indigenous Blackfoot who roamed the region before settlement and farming practices, and in part by his deep love for the land, he observed that the long term health of the soil was threatened by agricultural chemicals and the intense extractive practices of modern, large scale farming. Slowly and persistently, he turned the land into an organic farm, establishing crop rotations, refining tilling procedures, and carefully observing what was best for long-term sustainability of the land. He met with and learned from other organic farmers and formed cooperatives for marketing the food they produced. He managed the repair of machinery and developed machines and techniques that enabled the farm to continue to produce, while reducing the consumption of chemicals, fuel and other limits resources. A lifetime of investment has created an organic farming and ranching operation. Its management has been passed to a new generation who appreciate the philosophy of organic farming and have the skills and tenacity to continue sustainable practices.
My cousin is an organic farmer. The word comes from the same root as the name of the instrument whose workings I was investigating last night.
This week, I have been especially sensitive to the larger tasks of enabling the church I serve to move into its future. Churches are often good at choosing leaders who possess some of the technical skills required. Someone who was not a good preacher would not last long in my job, nor would a person who was not good at providing pastoral care. My positing also requires the skills of a teacher, who is a competent Biblical scholar and who knows the techniques of teaching and learning. But technical competence is not the only set of skills required. There are plenty of people who are good a preaching, calling and teaching who have sought careers in other fields after leaving the ministry. A successful minister needs to also be good at caring for the structures and systems of the institution. They used to call us “bricks and mortar” pastors. I count myself in that category. Every congregation that I have served has undertaken major investments in its building and infrastructure during my time of leadership. We have kept up with the needs of the property as well as the needs of the people. Every church I have pastored has undertaken a major rewriting of the church constitution and organizational structure during my pastorate. We have devised new systems of organizing ourselves for the mission to which we are called.
There is that word again: organ, organic, organization.
We never fully know the origins of language. Our words have been in use for so many generations that we have forgotten when they were first used. However, it appears that the term first was used in reference to a simple set of pan pipes. The tubes, probably reeds, were cut to different lengths to make different pitches when the user blew air through them. The organ wasn’t the sound it made. It wasn’t the air that was forced through the pipes. The organ was the tube through which air passed. It was a carrier of sound. We have a lovely instrument. It is actually quite beautiful in a visual sense. The gold and silver and wooden pipes are amazing. I love to look at the instrument. But it exists not for its visual appeal, but rather for the sound it makes. A pipe organ is a unique instrument. It delivers sound waves on moving air in contrast to an electronic speaker, which delivers sound waves on static air.
The organ is treasured for the air that passes through it and delivers sound. The farm is treasured for the nutrients that pass through the soil and are delivered as food. The church is treasured for the love that passes through it and is delivered as service to others.
Some are called to be organizers, whether they are musicians, farmers or leaders of an institution. Music, nutrition and service. We need all of them.
The next step for me was to carefully reverse my path, turning off lights and closing doors as I went back through the instrument. As is typical for me, I bumped my head on a low passage. No serious injury occurred, but it was a reminder that I am not as agile as once was the case. There was just enough of a bump on my head to remind me, later in the evening of what I had done. It got me to thinking.
The word organ comes from the Latin and it simply means “instrument.” We use it in a wide variety of different ways.
I have a cousin who is a lifelong farmer, rancher and steward of land. Over the years, he departed from the way the previous generation farmed dryland wheat in the Missouri Breaks. Influenced in part by the indigenous Blackfoot who roamed the region before settlement and farming practices, and in part by his deep love for the land, he observed that the long term health of the soil was threatened by agricultural chemicals and the intense extractive practices of modern, large scale farming. Slowly and persistently, he turned the land into an organic farm, establishing crop rotations, refining tilling procedures, and carefully observing what was best for long-term sustainability of the land. He met with and learned from other organic farmers and formed cooperatives for marketing the food they produced. He managed the repair of machinery and developed machines and techniques that enabled the farm to continue to produce, while reducing the consumption of chemicals, fuel and other limits resources. A lifetime of investment has created an organic farming and ranching operation. Its management has been passed to a new generation who appreciate the philosophy of organic farming and have the skills and tenacity to continue sustainable practices.
My cousin is an organic farmer. The word comes from the same root as the name of the instrument whose workings I was investigating last night.
This week, I have been especially sensitive to the larger tasks of enabling the church I serve to move into its future. Churches are often good at choosing leaders who possess some of the technical skills required. Someone who was not a good preacher would not last long in my job, nor would a person who was not good at providing pastoral care. My positing also requires the skills of a teacher, who is a competent Biblical scholar and who knows the techniques of teaching and learning. But technical competence is not the only set of skills required. There are plenty of people who are good a preaching, calling and teaching who have sought careers in other fields after leaving the ministry. A successful minister needs to also be good at caring for the structures and systems of the institution. They used to call us “bricks and mortar” pastors. I count myself in that category. Every congregation that I have served has undertaken major investments in its building and infrastructure during my time of leadership. We have kept up with the needs of the property as well as the needs of the people. Every church I have pastored has undertaken a major rewriting of the church constitution and organizational structure during my pastorate. We have devised new systems of organizing ourselves for the mission to which we are called.
There is that word again: organ, organic, organization.
We never fully know the origins of language. Our words have been in use for so many generations that we have forgotten when they were first used. However, it appears that the term first was used in reference to a simple set of pan pipes. The tubes, probably reeds, were cut to different lengths to make different pitches when the user blew air through them. The organ wasn’t the sound it made. It wasn’t the air that was forced through the pipes. The organ was the tube through which air passed. It was a carrier of sound. We have a lovely instrument. It is actually quite beautiful in a visual sense. The gold and silver and wooden pipes are amazing. I love to look at the instrument. But it exists not for its visual appeal, but rather for the sound it makes. A pipe organ is a unique instrument. It delivers sound waves on moving air in contrast to an electronic speaker, which delivers sound waves on static air.
The organ is treasured for the air that passes through it and delivers sound. The farm is treasured for the nutrients that pass through the soil and are delivered as food. The church is treasured for the love that passes through it and is delivered as service to others.
Some are called to be organizers, whether they are musicians, farmers or leaders of an institution. Music, nutrition and service. We need all of them.