Reviewed by Helen Whitall

This is Canadian musician Dennis Hendricksen's first silent prayer resource. "Prayer is first and foremost listening to Jesus, who dwells in the very depths of your heart. He doesn't shout. He doesn't thrust himself upon you. His voice is an unassuming voice, very nearly a whisper, the voice of a gentle love," says Henri Nouwen, quoted in the CD liner. This is very nearly a whisper indeed; each track features a single bell to begin and two to end, and is otherwise almost silent. A quiet ambience develops in between, the barest hint of a background in synth and singing bowl, designed to aid prayer rather than to draw attention to itself as music to listen to, and is incredibly peaceful. Hendricksen himself explains the concept best in the CD liner: "Think of it as the wallpaper in the room where you are having a visit with Jesus - it is there, it makes the room a comfortable place, but it is not like the painting that draws the eye to it and calls out to be looked at closely." The tracks are differentiated by length, to aid silent, contemplative prayer for different periods of time, three, seven, 10, 12 and 40 minutes each. The liner notes that each of these numbers has a biblical significance, reflected in the track titles "Trinity", "Sabbath", "Dekalogos", "Inner Circle" and "Wilderness". This resource could really help a worshipper focus on a quiet time of prayer, to be still, separated from the background noise of life, and freed by the structure of the track to escape the pressure of the clock and lose themselves in prayer without losing track of time. Despite its extreme minimalism it is clear a great deal of care and thought has gone into this, and I can imagine it being, for some, a very helpful prayer resource.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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