Last Sunday evening , I met the Spirit of God. It was at a Taize worship service held at Brubacher House on the campus of the University of Waterloo. I cannot name exactly when I knew the Spirit was there, but I know I experienced it.
Taize is a Protestant place ( in France ) where young adults are invited to come for a week to worship and experience life in the community. The “brothers” teach Bible study, meet with participants and lead the worship services. Three times a day, people are invited to go to the chapel for worship. They sing the songs of Taize ( many written by Jacques Berthier ) , read Scripture in many languages and have a moment of silence for 8-10 minutes . No sermon. The songs and Scriptures are different, but the order of the service is always the same. The brothers process in in the same order, but leave at different times depending on the movement of the Spirit. My wife Shirley and I spent a week there in the fall of 2011, as part of a sabbatical.
The songs of Taize are repetitive in nature. “ Stay With Me, remain here with me; watch and pray “, is one of the songs of the community. You sing this short song, three times or six times or 10 times, depending on the Spirit’s leading of the song leader. When we were at Taize, the song may have gone on for 15 times. It never felt rushed or repetitive. It felt slow and reflective.
I think I like the style of Taize because it tends to slow down my mind, so that I can meet God in a different way. I live a busy life , with work, volunteering and family. I have a few Taize CDs, and when I play them, they can have a calming effect on my life and soul.
So, on Sunday, it was a sacred time for me. There was a trio playing the music of Taize, and people read the Scriptures in different languages, French, Mandarin and English. And then,, there was the ten minutes of silence. That is a long time for a person like me. My mind wandered, and came back, and then wandered again. Near the end of the service we were invited to pray at the cross that was in the center of the room, and then we lit our candles, and prayed and sang once again.
In the conversations afterwards, I found out there were other Mennonites there, and Orthodox Christians, and Pentecostals and Catholics, and maybe many others. There were pastors, students and writers that I knew of, and there about 40 people around the circle.
The songs that moved me most to the Spirit were in Latin, “ Jubilate Deo, Nada Te Turbe and Veni Sancte Spiritus . These three songs are easy Latin, but it is in the music and words that God arrived . It inspired me to walk more closely with the words of Jesus of Nazareth, and the Spirit of the Eternal God. I was able to rest in the nature of God with God’s grace surrounding me.
When do you feel the presence of God in worship ? What happens to you ? Where do your thoughts go for that time ? “ O Lord hear my prayer, O Lord hear my Prayer, come and listen to me “ , is a Taize song that invites me, and you, to come with all of our lives before God. Come.
Ponder Anew 