The Sound of Elders Praying

I was moved the other day by what I will call the “Sound of elders praying”.

It brought me immediately into a space of inner and outer calm. When I heard it, I recognized how I’ve heard this sound since childhood. It is subtle, low and drone-like. It can be found everywhere - when we listen to things like the buzz of a bee, the rattle of dried leaves, the summer heat saturated in the consistency of cicada song.

I heard it easily in India while sleeping, waking and napping to the oceanic monsoon wind outside my retreat room window. I felt it in the low vibration sensed in the sound of silence. It is easily audible when: in sitting, one just sits; in listening one just listens and in breathing, one just breathes. I re-recognized the sound one day as I helped care for a 96 year old woman.

I was walking to the laundry room when I heard a voice say “thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you” in a just-under-the-breath mantra-like melody. I looked up to see a hunched elder woman walk with a tall husband-like man supporting her arm as they moved side by side. In each step-by-concentrated-step her movement and mantra blended in rhythmic measure.

There it was – the sound of elders praying! So familiar, so near, so soothing. I recalled the same murmured meter I heard as a child in the Byzantine church I attended,in of all places,downtown Gary, Indiana. Talk about calmness in the midst of chaos!

The church was a "cacophonic" chamber that echoed with a chorus of elder Slavic women’s voices praying the rosary in their native tongue. It came from deep inside them, rising subtly but surely with the frankincense that floated from the sanctuary. The ancient Slavic tones drew us inward to the place where we can hear divine messages:

“Be still and know that I am God”.
“To pray without ceasing”
…and…
“For those who have ears, let them hear.”

I am thankful to hear the sound of elders praying. I am grateful to have heard it in the woman walking by me. It helps me to remember in each step and in every moment to prayerfully say and hear “thank you, thank you, thank you”.