A small group of women sat silently in a circle in front of the church pews on a recent Wednesday. Midday sun filtered through the stained-glass windows, warming the sanctuary. Most of the women closed their eyes and neatly folded their hands on their laps before Linda Marousek, the pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church, began her reading.
A chant sung by Benedictine monks played in the background and a leaf blower droned outside as Marousek read a few sentences from “Psalms for Praying.” She then set a 20-minute timer on her phone and did something that goes against regular Sunday service protocol: She said nothing.
St. Paul Lutheran Church recently began a weekly contemplative prayer session to offer peace and quiet in the middle of the workday, in the middle of bustling downtown Vancouver.
Contemplative prayer has been part of Marousek’s faith discipline for some 15 years. She reads a bit and then prays silently to herself, often thinking the phrase: “I consent to the presence and action of God in my life.”
If You Go
What: Lunchtime contemplative prayer.
When: 12:20 to 12:45 p.m. Wednesdays.
Where: St. Paul Lutheran Church, 1309 Franklin St., Vancouver.
More info:www.stpaulvancouver.com or 360-693-3531
“When another thought comes in, I let go of the thought and return to the idea of consent,” Marousek said in an interview with The Columbian.
If this sounds like meditation, it’s because it is — sort of.
“The functional process is identical, and everybody who does meditation has a different sort of theological or non-theological content,” Marousek said. “But the Christian tradition has a very long history of using this time in silence as a pointer to God and to higher, better things in your life than just what you do every day.”
Marousek said experts recommend Christians engage in contemplative prayer twice daily for at least 20 minutes each time — a discipline she acknowledges is difficult but valuable. Being human means living with a busy mind often thinking outside the present moment.
“This is part of our tradition, and it’s also part of other faith traditions because everybody’s human brain works kind of the same way. We get busy with stuff that’s not here and now,” Marousek said. “The point is the direct experience of God without the filters of the brain.”
Marousek is new to St. Paul and working on her ordination, having retired a couple of years ago as assistant city attorney. She remembers the hustle and noise of working downtown and how little she did to find quiet during the workday.
“Sometimes I walked. Mostly, I worked,” she said.
That’s how Marousek conceived of a 20-minute contemplative prayer that aligns with lunchtime session. People can have some food or coffee, have some quiet and go back to work.
“I have found that healing in many ways,” Marousek said. “We all carry sort of psychological baggage. And what the Catholic priests who write about this say that their theory is — and it’s certainly my experience — that God heals us silently, sort of unseen.”
Lori Thomas crocheted a blue prayer shawl during contemplative prayer. During the first week St. Paul offered it, she stared at the stained-glass windows wondering what their patterns meant.
“I don’t do sitting silently well,” Thomas said. “It’s a really good discipline. In our life we’re so busy that we don’t often stop and listen.”
Contemplative prayer isn’t something that’s taught a lot, said Thomas, who’s the choir director, organist and pianist at St. Paul. She’s attended the church nearly all her life.
Though the idea of participating in a meditationlike activity takes on a different meaning today, contemplative prayer has been part of the Christian tradition for centuries. Practitioners can use different techniques for silent prayer to deepen their practice.
“We are a Christian church, but I am not trying to sort of push the theological content of it,” Marousek said. “So, it’s a safe, quiet, refreshing and, I think, holy space if you need it for whatever reason.”
At 12:45 p.m., Marousek’s phone played the sound of a ringing Tibetan singing bowl. It signaled the time, so people who need to can scurry away to their responsibilities. At St. Paul’s first lunch-hour contemplative prayer session, a few congregants showed up and so did some people from nearby City Hall.
“It’s just a good time to center yourself,” said Pat Irland, who took a break from volunteer work.
She admitted that she found it hard to tune out the sound of a visiting Columbian photographer’s camera shutter.
“Part of our spiritual discipline is to hear those things and let them go,” Marousek said.
“I was doing my best,” Irland said. “Obviously, I need to practice.”
