Confusion, language barriers, different worship style

Having been here a couple of days now I have decided to comment on the experience of Taize so far.

The tent went up, and, despite the wind, rain and lightning storm, stayed up. Which is a blessing in itself.

I can’t make my mind up about Taize as a whole yet. When we arrived there seemed little by way of organisation. I don’t know what I expected but the welcome did seem a little lacking. Most people were French or German with a good number from Holland, but few English. Thankfully, and to our detriment really, most do speak English. Having been split into study groups for some reflection it appears that most people think this when they come here for the first time. A little disoriented.

Then came evening prayers. I was looking forward to being in the rhythm of life here at Taize, but prayers and songs are in Latin, French, German, Polish etc. Why did this surprise me? Though the church is probably everything I expected. Simple, no gold, no massive altars, just simple brightly coloured cloth and candles with painted wooden crosses. Did these aid prayer and worship? Not immediately.

Then into day 1. Simple food for every meal, cleaning and serving chores taken by all ( we wash up after lunch) and a bible teaching session. The brother taking ours is English but speaks multiple languages. However the use of metaphors do get lost in translation. Excellent teaching and understanding. Splitting into groups to discuss and explore together with a German, 2 from Holland and a Canadian.

Music practice was useful if only to begin to understand at least some of the chants we’re using. Even learnt one in Russian.

Evening prayers the second day was different. I began to personalise prayer and worship. Yes it is good to pray and worship with so many others, but this was now being between God and myself, feeling God’s presence. Suddenly the simplicity and way of life was beginning to break through.

I hope this develops through the rest of the week.