Taizé
I want to put up Jeanne’s dad’s message that he sent out to the church, but I need to talk to him about it first. I will tell him you are praying. Thank you.
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There is a religious retreat center/movement here in Europe called Taizé. The place is not too far from Lausanne, and lots of youth go there. Several of the protestant and catholic parishes send young people there for retreats, and from what I’ve heard, up to 5000 people meet together from all over Europe, from all different languages.
One of Wife’s friend’s daughters spent 10 months there and really enjoyed it, according to wife’s friend (though she said the daughter came back as sassy as ever – Is sassy still a word?).
But in an article in the recent protestant publication, this daughter said:
A Taizé, il y a à la fois beaucoup de monde et beaucoup de silence…Oops…
At Taizé, there is at the same time lots of people and lots of silence (in worship). In the local parish, it’s the opposite. There are 10 people in the church, but lots of words, and little silence.Now, I’m not a true Taizé fan, but that’s made me think: Few people. Lots of words. Lots of people, lots of silence.
Could our worship time really include lots of silence before our God, or would we have to have a video presentation and humming in the background to keep ourselves interested? (I’d probably be counting the number of times people cough per minute. I guess that’s my math side…)
Thanks for stopping by.
posted by Brady @ 8:14 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
"Few people lots of words" Is a most interesting and intriguing commentary.
Encountered the Taizé style for the first time this past year. It was peaceful.
Being silent before God is certainly supported in the text. Like the other things we've eliminated from our worship style so as to remain comfortable. We still think it's all about our experience.
I've heard the word "sassy" three times in the last two days so it must still be hanging on. Sukqkr, on the other hand, as all but disappeared from our vocabulary.
I have tried this year to incorporate silence into the worship times I have helped plan. I started early this year with a minute or two and extended to almost five by the end. That doesn't sound like long, but we all know that it is.
I think it's important. It may be the only time all week that many of us are still.
Do the scriptures not say, "Be still and know that I am God." I think that whatever we do in worship, if God is the center and is praised and honored and the people are not the audience, then we are being what God would be pleased with. I definitely think that silence is a part of that!
A few Wednesday nights ago, we did a thing we called prayer stations. There were chairs set up in the auditorium in the corners for people to go and pray. We even included some prayer requests on small note paper. Once dismissed to these stations, prayer happened in silence. It was awesome!
Thanks for reminding us that silence is golden.
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