S 85 upon nature before some supernatural phenomenon or disastrous upheaval? And is there anything that can touch our hearts like the power of stillness?"15 Selah is that magical moment before a miracle occurs. It's that breathless instant of anticipation, of suspended disbelief. Selah is the pause in music, the stillness in the dance, the calligraphic circled space -- emptiness enhanced. "Selah is a very old word. A mysterious and magical word. . . . But it is the best kind of word -- because it can . . . mean whatever the speaker wishes it to mean."16 Meanings: • Amen -- James Stuart Bell, The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Bible (200 ) • Blessing -- John McKinna, Shark Lake (2001) • Crescendo -- Zondervan, New American Standard Bible (2002) • Freedom -- Virginia Hamilton, The House of Dies Drear (1996) • Pause "Is there any note in all the music of the world as mighty as the grand pause? Is there any word in the Psalms more eloquent than the word 'Selah,' meaning pause?" -- L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert (1997) • Quiet -- Louie Giglio, Facedown (2004) • "So be it" -- John McKinna, Shark Lake (2001) • "Strike up the band" -- James Stuart Bell, The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Bible (200 ) • "Think calmly" -- Joyce Meyer, In Pursuit of Peace (2004) • True -- John McKinna, Shark Lake (2001) Origins: The "imperfectly understood" word selah is ubiquitous in the book of Psalms.17 It appears over seventy times throughout the Psalms, "most likely referring to an instrumental interlude between verses or sections of vocal music."18 Selah is a Chinook word meaning "still water."19 15 L.B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert (1997) 16 John McKinna, Shark Lake (2001) 17 Michael Coogan, The New Oxford Annotated NRSV Bible with the Apocrypha (2001) 18 Rory Noland, The Heart of the Artist (1999) 19 Scott Rutherford, Insight Guide: Seattle (200 )