The Bates Multifaith Chaplaincy’s weekly nondenominational service, {Pause}, creates a space for the silence to speak. I’ve been a student coordinator of {Pause} since 2009.

{Pause} takes place at 9 p.m. every Wednesday during the academic year. In the same sense that a carefully placed breath can make a saxophone solo into a great saxophone solo, the Chaplaincy believes that taking time to pause, contemplate and reflect on our busy lives makes them that much fuller.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The theme for the Dec. 8 {PAUSE} was “war and peace.” This brief video by Phyllis Graber Jensen includes songs peformed by Amna Ilyas ’13 of Faisalabad, Pakistan, and poetry read by Erica Long ’12 of Augusta, Maine.

“Because so much of our day is goal-oriented, [we need] time to just let our thoughts wander and see what moves us in the moment,” says Associate Multifaith Chaplain Emily Wright-Magoon. “Sometimes it is the first time all day that we are able to check in with ourselves.”

Although creating a space for silence and contemplation is the reason for the weekly program, it is also a venue for Bates musicians, dancers and poets. From students who have never performed in front of their peers before, to a cappella groups accustomed to standing-room-only shows, {Pause} is known for its variety.

Multifaith Chaplain Bill Blaine-Wallace says the only qualification for members of the Bates community to perform is “a desire to make an offering and some sense of what {Pause} is all about. And if the latter is lacking we’ll sure introduce them to what it’s all about.”

The Chaplaincy has offered similar programs off and on throughout the decade. Blaine-Wallace and Wright-Magoon made a commitment at the beginning of the 2009-2010 academic year to continue the program every week for a year.

As the year progressed, changes were made to reflect the needs of the community. A weekly theme was established to reflect the feelings on campus and the work of the performers. When Blaine-Wallace and Wright-Magoon realized that attendees might want to reflect on their experiences after each service, they added a recessional in the Chapel lobby with chai and cookies.

Most recently, attendees have been invited to contribute a word or short phrase during the last moment of the service.

Along with the silence are other ingredients in a {Pause} service that remain constant. The Chapel is lit with candles, the lights dimmed. The service always begins and ends with the ringing of a large glass singing bowl.

During fall 2011, {Pause} reached new audiences with themes that reflected big ideas on the minds of students. One week featured a dance performance advocating against the spread of HIV/AIDS.

And after the chalking vandalism incidents during Coming-Out Week, the Chaplaincy asked Bates OUTfront to provide poems and performances to rally support on campus. It was the most highly attended {Pause} to date.

by Erica Long ’12

The public is invited to attend the 2011 Bertha May Bell Andrews Lecture at no cost. Part of an innovative series of activities at the college exploring ways to dial down the digital barrage and reconnect with the capacity for contemplation, the event is presented by the Multifaith Chaplaincy.

It is co-sponsored by Bates Information and Library Services, the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, the Learning Commons, the Communications Office, the Career Development Center and the Office of the President. For more information, please contact 207-786-8272.

Belsky’s talk, Present Tense: Being Here and Now in a Non-Stop World, will explore the disappearing opportunities for reflection and contemplation, which he refers to as “sacred space.” Such deep thought is often challenged by technology-induced opportunities and demands, leading to reactive and dependent behavior from both individuals and institutions.

“Despite the incredible power and potential of sacred spaces, they are quickly becoming extinct,” Belsky notes on the website, the99percent.com. “We are depriving ourselves of every opportunity for disconnection. And our imaginations suffer the consequences.”

Belsky believes that people and organizations succeed by making opportunities for creative, concentrated attention. During his Bates residency, he will help the college reaffirm its commitment to deep thinking and understand how “reactionary workflow” works against such commitments. He’ll also offer guidance in approaching technology deliberately and productively, and in working more creatively overall.

Belsky’s visit is the centerpiece of a bold initiative that the Multifaith Chaplaincy describes as a “Bates community experiment.”

“The idea is not that these technologies are bad, but simply that we need to be more mindful about how we relate to them,” says Emily Wright-Magoon, associate multifaith chaplain.

The day after the lecture, in an experience called UnDay: A Day to Unplug and Unwind, students, staff and faculty will pledge to experiment with refraining from the technology of their choice for one full day.

The following day, a campus conversation will be held to assess how it went and what came up. Additionally, throughout the week there will be opportunities for meditation, yoga, massage, mindful eating and discussion.

Belsky has spent his professional life in technology, social media and the creative industry. He is the author of the best-selling book Making Ideas Happen (Portfolio, 2010), and is the founder and CEO of Behance, a company that develops products and services for the creative industries. In 2010, he was included in Fast Company’s list of “100 Most Creative People in Business.”

Belsky is a frequent contributor on MSNBC, and has worked with such leading organizations as General Electric, Hewlett-Packard and Proctor & Gamble, as well as with the U.S. State Department and the CIA.

He attended Cornell University as an undergraduate and received his master’s in business administration from Harvard Business School.

The Andrews Lecture, a signature talk at Bates since 1975, is a memorial to Bertha May Bell Andrews, who served on the Bates faculty from 1913 to 1917 and established the women’s physical education program at the college. Her son, Dr. Carl B. Andrews of the Bates class of 1940, established the lectureship.