Taize

A few weeks ago I got the opportunity to go to Taize, France.  It was part of our work as volunteers here, so there were about 70 of us from Germany that all went together.  Taize is a very small city with just a few houses and this place built to receive thousands of young people from all over for weeks at a time.  There are monks that live there and it is their mission to live simple lives and to share the gospel with young people who are searching for something.  They also have brothers that live in Africa and other parts of the world helping the poor and carrying the good news throughout the world.  The part of Taize where young people come is kind of like a big camping ground.  There are a few permanent buildings at the front of the land to welcome people and that serve as the kitchen and distribution area for meals.  There are then two big white tents nearby where you can meet as groups or eat under when the weather is bad.  In the center is the church which has been built onto several times to make additional room for the growing masses that visit each summer.  It is all very simple inside.  Besides a stage area that is set up with lots of colors and candles, there is a long aisle made out of plants on the sides to mark the area where the brothers sit/kneel during prayer.  The rest of the place is just open floor and more open floor in rooms connected with garage doors so that when there are not so many people there they can be closed and the feeling of the church being filled is preserved.  On the other side of the church is a gift shop where the brothers sell pottery and books and different kinds of artwork that they have made.  They do not take any donations but make all these things by hand and then sell them to fund their work.  Behind that are lots and lots of cabins and then off to one side is lots of space for camping out in tents. 

The week there was really good, but also not everything that I had expected.  I enjoyed the simple lifestyle.  The day began at 8:15 where everyone met in the church for morning prayer and communion.  That lasted about 45 minutes and then breakfast was around 9 every morning.  Every prayer time was ended when the brothers stood up and walked out, but everyone had the chance to stay longer and continue to pray if you wanted to.  The prayer times consisted of different chants being sung in all kinds of different languages, a reading from the Bible in English and another language, and 5-10 minutes of absolute silence followed by more singing. Every day for breakfast we got a roll, a pack of butter, and two little sticks of chocolate.  You also had the choice of hot tea or hot chocolate to drink, but there were no plates or utensils given out.  Towards the end of the week we figured out we could ask for two rolls if we knew the people handing them out.  After breakfast I had to meet with a group from my work here in Germany.  Our bosses wanted to meet with us every day to see how everything was going and if they could help us with anything.  It was kind of annoying to me, but I know some of the other people weren’t Christian and maybe didn’t go in embracing the ideas  or looking to be really involved.  It was just kind of a trip for them and I think our bosses also wanted to keep an eye on them to make sure they were participating fully.  After the meeting I had to start my work for the day.  When you arrive everyone is given a job to do in the community and a time to meet with a brother for a Bible input and then small groups afterwards.  The jobs ranged from being a silence keeper during the prayers to cleaning toilets.  I was very happy with my job.  I worked with two other people that were also from our group from Germany and our “boss” was a guy from Australia.  There are also young people that live there for 6 weeks- 1 year that are known as permanents who help to keep the place running and show the people there for a week what to do.  We were in charge of setting up the tables and lines that were needed to give out lunch, get all the food to the lines, recruit and supervise volunteers to give out the food, and then after lunch clean it all up.  It was really a fun job for me.  Most days I was in charge of cutting the bread.  We had to make sure we had all the numbers right and then figure out how much bread we needed to cut without going way over so that nothing was wasted.  Because we worked with the food, one of the perks of my job was being able to get as much as I wanted at lunch.  We ate after we were done cleaning everything up in a back room by ourselves.  We also got chili powder and some other extras that spiced the food up a little.  It was cool to see how everything worked.  Someone else had already brought the food to the walk in fridge or brought it to us hot from the kitchen.  We just had to count out the correct amount to match the numbers we had listed.  When we were cleaning up we just had to carry the dirty dishes to a certain station and someone else was in charge of actually washing them.  It made the work easier knowing that you just had to do this and this and you didn’t have to sit there thinking… oh man, that’s not gonna be fun to clean up later.  That was someone else’s job.  Our permanent was really cool, too.  He was very laid back and I think he was happy as well to have another native English speaker for a week.  We had lots of interesting discussions about the mission of Taize, Australia, and just getting to know each other.  Although we started work at 11 each day, we still went to the midday prayer at 12:20 and then went right back to work around 1:00 getting lunch served.  After we were done cleaning and eating I usually had a little spare time, about 30 minutes before I had to go to my group for Bible input.  Each day we met in a big group with one of the brothers who had a little devotion for us.  It was amazing how many languages the brothers knew.  They each had their native language of course, but then with each other they spoke French and then most of them also knew English or at least one other language fairly well.  After the devotion time was done we broke into small groups to discuss what was talked about or really just whatever was on our minds.  I was in a group with three French guys, one German girl from my group, and then 4 other Germans that we didn’t know.  We spoke English which was good for me, but the Germans had a tough time understand the French guys’ English.  One of the French guys and one of the Germans also had a tough time with English in general, but in the end we were able to communicate pretty well.  I was a little disappointed with my group, though.  Most of the people there were 18-20 and most of them were also not Christian.  It was not really what I was expecting.  I was looking forward to time with other Christians in Bible study but I felt much older than them and like I should speak up as a Christian voice which is kind of what I feel like I am always doing at work, so it wasn’t as much of a time of rejuvenation for me in that regard.   After the small group I had about 2 hours before dinner each day.  I spent that time very differently each day.  The first day I was invited to play rugby with all French people.  I wasn’t really sure of the rules or if I was doing something illegal, but it was pretty fun for the 15 minutes that I played.  I scored almost immediately after joining the game which I think really impressed them a lot.  I really just outran everyone; I never got touched, so it was really pretty easy.  After about 15 minutes though I was so tired and didn’t really want to get hit any more so I decided to quit.  There is a big difference in the impact of a hit when you are fresh and can deliver a hit yourself or are quicker and can move a little so the hit isn’t so hard and when you are tired and you just take the brunt of a hit because you can’t get out of the way.  It was really cool though, because the entire week after that the French people knew me and liked me just because I had played with them.  Other days I just took time for myself with God, checked out the gift shop, or went walking in the huge garden area they have with a little lake and trails all around.  Dinner was at 7 every night and then evening prayer began at 8:30 and went til about 10 or later if you decided to stay and pray longer.  At the evening prayer several of the brothers also got up and went to the back where you could go and ask questions or just talk with them about whatever.  There was also a room to the side that was opened where several brothers sat in chairs with an empty chair beside them that you could go to.  I thought they were there just for questions or prayer or whatever like the others so I went to one of these and turns out they were there for confession.  The monk that founded Taize was protestant but there are no divisions of Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, etc. in Taize.  They try to incorporate all of them in the worship services and then you are free to observe what you want.  They have some ikons in the church, they have water when you come in to cross yourself, they have a picture of Mary in the church, they have a cross that they bring to the middle during the evening prayer to pray before, and are accepting of all denominations.   On Friday night they lay the cross in the middle and all are invited to go and lay your head on the cross, as a symbol of laying your life/troubles/etc. on Jesus and his cross.  It is a celebration of Black Friday every Friday.  On Saturday they celebrate Easter by spreading the light of Jesus through the church with everyone lighting a candle, like what we do at Christmas services.  After the evening prayer service there is a building open that sells snacks and drinks and then everyone just hangs out until 11:30 or 12 when it is absolute silence until morning.  One night during this time I got invited by the French to play a game with them.  They asked me if my shoulders were strong and I said I guess so, not knowing what the game entailed.  It started out with myself and maybe six others huddled together with our arms on our neighbors’ necks and our legs crossed with our neighbors.  Then we rocked back and forth while they chanted something and then someone would run and jump on top of us, over the huddle, grab the waist of one of us and hold on with their feet on the ground and their faces in the middle of our huddle looking up.  We did that until each one of us had someone holding on to our waists.  Then we were supposed to rock back and forth and at a certain time all jump together to the right until someone fell.  It didn’t take long before someone fell, and luckily it wasn’t me.  It was funny seeing the differences between the French and Germans.  The Germans all asked me why did I play that and what was the point of it.  They just sat there and talked and watched while the French kept playing lots of strange games like that. 

The food was always very simple for each meal.  For lunch and dinner there was always a main course, a roll or two baguette slices, a fruit, a cheese, and a little cookie or some kind of dessert.  We got bowls to drink water out of, a plate, and a spoon to eat everything with.  The main courses were cous-cous, beans and potatoes, rice w/beans and corn mixed together, mashed potatoes and 2 chicken nuggets, noodles with tomato sauce, green peas and carrots, and I don’t remember what else, but always something pretty easy to make in bulk.  They had someone that knew how to season things, because even the stuff that I wouldn’t touch at home tasted decent. 

For me the week was good because it was a time away from work and all the distractions like TV, internet, etc.  I thought it would be more of a mountain top experience than it turned out to be.  I thought it would be lots of Christians coming together to live a week like the monks and there would be lots of encouraging and times to learn in all of the talks with the people.  There was a lot of learning about cultures and different ideas, which is also really good, but there wasn’t as much of a focus on learning more about God as I had hoped.  I also felt like most everyone was younger than me and not really in the same stage of their life as I am.  The adults (30 and up) had a separate program at the back of the land than the rest of us.  There were not many people 24-30, though, in the week that I was there.  I wish that we had more time in conversation with the brothers.  It was a good week though, and I would love to go back with friends or family.  The chants during prayer were very peaceful and when I understood the language also helpful in my prayer life.  Because they were almost all taken from Bible verses, it really helps to remember scripture.  I’m sure if you lived there like the brothers and learned what each song meant then it would be very helpful.  The chants were translated in the song book, but it takes a while to be able to sing another language and still understand the meaning in your own.  Being there with so many other people and nationalities and cultures also really made me want to travel again.  Luckily, I would find out the next week I was going to get to go to Romania for a week.  I’ll write about that trip in the next few days.