Taize finishes, off to Holland
The view that I'm looking at across the canal.April 16th-20th , 2008
I am now sitting in front of our hotel in Amsterdam. I’m sitting right next to a canal. If I leaned slightly to the right,I would fall in. We were lucky to find a hotel for five nights. Queen’s Day is coming up so hotels are very full.
Taize finished. Lots of hugs and sad good-byes. Wow. I don’t know how to explain the experience I had at the Taize community. You really have to go and live it yourself to understand the power of this place. After a week, my mind was much calmer, all my little physical ailments disappeared and I felt amazingly happy. I didn’t want to leave. I can see why they have a rule for adults that they can only attend one week a year. Youth can go as many times as they want. It was great to see so many young people, mostly Europeans, taking time out of their lives to spend a week in Taize!
The best part of the week was of course “Common Prayer” which was held three times a day. This is what people come for. The service consists almost entirely of singing. These are short pieces especially composed for Taize. You repeat them over and over again like a chant or meditation. These songs become a part of you. I was singing them throughout the day and kept singing them after the week was over. I bought a CD of the songs and I hope to start my own meditation every morning. Imagine 1000 people singing these beautiful chants. In the summer months there are up to 6,000 people in one week. I would love to hear that. A huge church has been built to hold all these people. Depending on how many people are there they can open and close walls to more rooms. By the end of the week we had to open one wall in the back. There were walls on the side as well which we didn’t need to open. We had Common Prayer at 8:15, 12:20 and 8:30. Most people sit on the floor. There are chairs for older people. As the people are coming in the bothers start coming in and sit in a designated area in the center. They range in age from early 20s to late 90s. A large part of them are quite young. There are about 80 brothers I believe. Several are traveling at any given time so there were about 50 the week I was there. They wear white robes. One brother leads the singing. He gets the song started and then adds a descant on most songs. So many of the people attending are musical so it’s a glorious sound. The night service was my favorite time. The service would end but the singing would continue for another 45 minutes or so. I sometimes stayed until the very end when there were no more than 20 people remaining. It seemed as if the best singers were staying until the end so it was a glorious experience.
I am now sitting in front of our hotel in Amsterdam. I’m sitting right next to a canal. If I leaned slightly to the right,I would fall in. We were lucky to find a hotel for five nights. Queen’s Day is coming up so hotels are very full.
Taize finished. Lots of hugs and sad good-byes. Wow. I don’t know how to explain the experience I had at the Taize community. You really have to go and live it yourself to understand the power of this place. After a week, my mind was much calmer, all my little physical ailments disappeared and I felt amazingly happy. I didn’t want to leave. I can see why they have a rule for adults that they can only attend one week a year. Youth can go as many times as they want. It was great to see so many young people, mostly Europeans, taking time out of their lives to spend a week in Taize!
The best part of the week was of course “Common Prayer” which was held three times a day. This is what people come for. The service consists almost entirely of singing. These are short pieces especially composed for Taize. You repeat them over and over again like a chant or meditation. These songs become a part of you. I was singing them throughout the day and kept singing them after the week was over. I bought a CD of the songs and I hope to start my own meditation every morning. Imagine 1000 people singing these beautiful chants. In the summer months there are up to 6,000 people in one week. I would love to hear that. A huge church has been built to hold all these people. Depending on how many people are there they can open and close walls to more rooms. By the end of the week we had to open one wall in the back. There were walls on the side as well which we didn’t need to open. We had Common Prayer at 8:15, 12:20 and 8:30. Most people sit on the floor. There are chairs for older people. As the people are coming in the bothers start coming in and sit in a designated area in the center. They range in age from early 20s to late 90s. A large part of them are quite young. There are about 80 brothers I believe. Several are traveling at any given time so there were about 50 the week I was there. They wear white robes. One brother leads the singing. He gets the song started and then adds a descant on most songs. So many of the people attending are musical so it’s a glorious sound. The night service was my favorite time. The service would end but the singing would continue for another 45 minutes or so. I sometimes stayed until the very end when there were no more than 20 people remaining. It seemed as if the best singers were staying until the end so it was a glorious experience.
the church
The next best thing about the week was the discussion group. Every morning at 10 brother Pedro came to the adult tent and gave us a short 40 minute or so talk. The theme this week was creation. At the end of his talk he would pose 5 or 6 questions for us to discuss in our groups. Our group got really close and we all looked forward to great, lively, open discussions. By the end of the week, we were good friends. If any of you are reading this. I MISS YOU! There was a lot of free time for your own meditation and thinking. I often took long walks, or just sat in a field and prayed. The meals were very simple but I never was hungry. You could always get seconds. There was a little canteen that was open a couple times a day as well. And there was a coffee machine which I visited frequently in the morning. One of my goals was to not drink coffee this week but that just didn’t work out! A couple times during the week I got the chance to drive around the area with people who had cars. A very friendly couple from Estonia, a German young man, Jonathan and myself had a lovely afternoon exploring the small villages around Taize. It’s hard to believe such small villages still exist. Does the young generation actually stick around?
I think about Taize everyday. (It’s now May 11th as I write this.) I think it will stay with me for a very long time if not forever. I would encourage anyone to take a week off and experience this amazing, spiritual place on the little hill in Burgundy.
This entry is getting long so I will continue tomorrow.
our discussion group
brother Pedro talking to the adults
cleaning the breakfast dishes with Wiebe
More pictures to come...
