Compline

Sunday nights at 9:30 p.m., Kathy Garner takes me to Compline prayer at Saint Mark's Cathedral on Tenth Avenue East, Seattle. The place is usually full. People bring blankets and lay on the floor, sit on steps, crowd the pews. Compline is a harmony of sung prayer and scripture. The sound is simply blessed healing. Words that impress and envelope me are "the Lord will hide me," "beneath God's wings," "talking about the wondrous works of God." I sit on the floor, as close to the semi-circle of robed male singers as I can get. Close enough to hear the pitch pipe hum. Close enough to see the gold hoop earrings in both of the choir master's ears. Close enough to know that I need to close my eyes to shut out the vision of present reality and hear the voice of eternity.