Tools

Rev. Susan Sims-Smith calls the House of Prayer the perfect solace for baby boomers.

“The hunger for the spiritual really escalates in the second half of life,” Sims-Smith said. “The soul is longing to know and to have a more personal relationship with the divine. One way to do that is through silence and meditation.”

Sims-Smith is the canon for special ministries for the Dioceses in Arkansas and has practiced meditation since the 1970s; she recognizes the importance of peace. “What we are providing here is an opportunity for boomers to follow their natural hunger and to take a break from the busyness of the life that they created in the first half and listen,” Sims-Smith said.

In 1999, Sims-Smith saw a photograph of a round meditation room on the cover of Living Church magazine and was inspired. She held the photograph in her planner for four years before talking to the reverend and the bishop of St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Chenal Valley about building a similar structure. “St. Margaret's has 5.5 acres of woods and they loved the idea,” Sims-Smith said.

After researching her photograph, she found that the architect of the meditation room was John Cunningham from Minnesota. “He had me gather a group of people from the community from different faith groups and different churches, young and old, to brainstorm about what the community might need in a place of silence,” Sims-Smith said.

Out of that meeting came the vision statement: “The House of Prayer is an interfaith haven, set apart in nature, dedicated to contemplative prayer, meditation and quiet, where all are welcome.” Construction began on this joint ministry of the Diocese of Arkansas and St. Margaret's in December 2006, and final touches to the property are still being added. Garden designer P. Allen Smith has agreed to donate 10,000 daffodils in the fall of 2008.

Sims-Smith says the quietness leads to renewal. “Part of what happens in silence is that your energy gets restored. Your heart gets calmed and your spirit gets lifted and the worrying mind that we all have, in silence, has a chance to take a rest.”

Places of worship aren't usually dedicated solely to prayer and silence, but the House of Prayer was designed and built for that purpose. “If you're hungry for silence,” she said, “you can come out here and that is the only thing we have to offer the community: a sacred, beautiful, gorgeous place in nature where one can count on silence.” The facility is home to a small library of prayer and meditation tools, a meditation room, prayer alcoves and tranquil gardens.

A local minister comes to the House of Prayer every Friday to write her sermons, Sims-Smith said. “She knows that she can come out here and be anonymous and have three or four hours of quiet.” Like other visitors, this minister can also use the library or the available Internet connection, but Sims-Smith said the most important thing this minister can do is “protect that time.”

The House of Prayer is designed to take visitors on a journey. “You leave your car and you start to leave your everyday cares as you walk through the woods on this beautiful path designed by P. Allen Smith,” Sims-Smith said. The first courtyard is lined with stones and gardens. The meditation room is home to 24 handmade chairs, and in the center of the room is a dirt-filled stone circle.

A dome of light shines on the soil. “The theology is that our creator made both heaven and earth. We are part of the earth and we are partly divine and the room conveys that,” Sims-Smith said.

She says the House of Prayer is a catalyst to grow wise with years. “The wisdom of the divine is all around us and it's inside us, and one of the ways to listen is to get quiet and still enough to listen to the wisdom that's already been planted in our hearts and in our body and in nature.”

Visitors may access the House of Prayer from 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday by signing out a key at St. Margaret's. A greeter at the House of Prayer welcomes visitors from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. For more information, call (501) 821-7773 or visit ArkansasHouseOfPrayer.org.