So, I'm In the Middle Of A Hurricane...

There is no hurricane, but living in a world-class city sure can feel like it. Seattle may not be the largest metropolis, but the fast pace is still present. We go in and out of our daily lives, day after day, in this swirling, living, breathing, concrete jungle of an environment where everyone has a schedule and we can't be interrupted. We have people we're responsible for and cannot come up short. The hurricane blows all around and inside us. 

We need outlets to our pent-up, always-churning lifestyle. Some might be physically active, some create art, some could travel out of the area whenever they want. When it comes to taking the edge off, there is no wrong answer. I just happen to love all those things. But how many times do you allow yourself to just sit, even for just one half-hour...and listen?

Saint Mark's Compline Choir, or
"singing monks."

I hadn't heard them for at least five or six years,; the beauty, true harmony, and exquisite precision that was the Compline Choir at Saint Mark's Cathedral  on Capitol Hill in Seattle. A Seattle tradition dating back to its founding in 1956 by Peter R. Hallock, the all-male Compline Choir leads an official choral service every Sunday, 9:30-10 p.m. Never a small crowd, Compline hosts an average of 500 people a night, the majority being young adults in their teens and early 20s. 

Following an afternoon at Volunteer Park with a friend, I was fortunate to remember it was a Sunday and almost time for the singing monks at Saint Mark's. Listening to them, it's almost a practice in meditation. At first filing out two-by-two from the back, prayers are majestically recited, and the beautiful sounds begin. I have no idea how to accurately describe it, but the voices of the Compline Choir are absolutely heavenly. They ring throughout the wide expanse of the church, soothe my ears and mind and put me completely at peace. It doesn't matter what happened before I arrived or what happens after. In that moment I can just relax, do nothing, and allow the elegant voices of this phenomenal choir to ground me. 

If you're looking for that calming eye in the middle of the storm, somewhere you can go on a Sunday night and put everything in your life on hold or prepare for the week ahead, I highly recommend the "singing monks" at Saint Mark's. Lie on the floor, sit on the stage, wherever you can fit. The monks will take care of the rest. 

For a preview of your listening experience at Saint Mark's every Sunday night, feel free to listen to the Compline Choir's podcasts.