The Taizé Community is an ecumenical monastic order founded in 1940 by
Brother Roger Schutz in Taizé, France. It is composed of more than one
hundred brothers who originate from about thirty countries around the
world.
The community has become a popular site of Christian
pilgrimage. Over 100,000 young people from around the world make
pilgrimages to Taizé each year for prayer, Bible study, sharing, and
communal work. Through the community's ecumenical outlook, they are
encouraged to live in the spirit of kindness, simplicity and
reconciliation.
A Taizé service is a simple prayer service
centered around music from the Taizé community. Most of the music has a
short refrain which could be four, eight or sixteen bars long. Some of
the songs have verses which are generally sung by a soloist or schola
and the refrains are simple and easy to memorize after a few
repetitions. The reason for the music in being easy and repetitious is
so that the average person attending the service may more readily engage
in sung prayer rather than reading words, notes or trying to learn the
melody.
Musicians love this format for it gives them the
opportunity to drop in or out and lightly improvise after the fifth,
tenth or twentieth repetition. Some music directors may stifle
creativity and organize and plan arrangements regardless how the spirit
is moving everyone else. When I organize a Taizé service, I tell the
musicians to go with the flow, try things, experiment, come in or out
when you want, listen to the people and respond to them. I give them
ownership. Using this method, a song may have several climaxes as
opposed to one - that is arranged.
When putting together a
Taizé or Taizé-like prayer service, one doesn't have to choose music
from the Taizé tradition. I like to use psalm refrains. If you belong
to a liturgical church, you probably already sing psalms every Sunday
with a cantor. Psalm refrains are good to use because they are simple,
short, the assembly already knows many of them. They are scriptural,
they may be comforting and as I said, psalms may already be in the
musical vocabulary of most liturgical churches.
If I was in an
airplane and we hit turbulence, I might pray to myself, "Be with me
Lord, when I am in trouble, be with me, Lord, I pray," or "The Lord is
my light and my salvation, of whom should I be afraid?" because I would
have sung them during the regular liturgical year or thirty times during
a Taizé service so I would know those refrains as Psalms 91 and 27 and
by heart.
Churches often mistakenly offer Taizé services because
they think it will attract people, especially young people. In the
turbulent 1960s, young people began to visit the Taizé community in
search of spiritual answers. The first international young adults
meeting was organized in Taizé with 1400 participants from 30
countries. In 1970, in response to student protests taking place all
over Europe and the world, as well as the Second Vatican Council,
Brother Roger announced a "Council of Youth", whose main meeting took
place in 1974. At the end of the 1970s, the meetings and surrounding
activities began to be referred to as a "Pilgrimage of Trust on Earth".
The monastic community decided to focus on youth. Many churches,
especially in Europe, send their youth and young adults to Taizé for
spiritual retreats.
Faith can not be reverse engineered. When I
was a teen, my niece came to live with us because her family was
moving, it was her senior year and she wanted to graduate with her
class. She loved grunge rock and one day I heard her singing a Bach
melody. I asked her where she heard it and she didn't know but she said
she liked it. It was something she subconsciously heard me regularly
practicing and it struck a chord with her. If youth are exposed to the
music of Taizé, they will certainly grow to like it but offering it will
not attract them if they don't know what it is in the first place.
This is a conundrum that organized religion hasn't figured out yet, but,
the answer is so simple.
When putting together a Taizé service,
the musicians must focus on what is needed in order to encourage an
hour of singing. A successful music ministry is not one that plays for
or to the people, it is one that revels in the sound of a participating
and singing congregation. The most beautiful sound a music director can
hear is the sound of a singing assembly.
Consider our services
in the model of the theater; Many church musicians mistakenly think
that the congregation is the audience, the musicians are the actors and
God is the prompter. This model will surely fail in rapid entropy. It
should be that the congregation are the actors, the musicians are the
prompters and God is the audience. This is a simple mistake that many
churches make and is why church is perceived as boring, because it is
done -to- us as in the first model. They reap what they sow.
Within
the Taizé service there may be a couple readings and of course a
healthy period of silence. Silence can be awkward and uncomfortable for
many people because our brains are often sozzled with distractions and
noise. Speech must die to serve that which is spoken. Alternatively,
I've been to restaurants where I have seen couples sit through their
entire meal and barely speak to one another. Sadly it is probably
because she married for security and comfort while he married a trophy
and they realized that they have nothing in common. Taizé doesn't have
to be that way as long as you don't go in looking to be entertained.
You have to enter into it empty, open and willing to be filled. Energy
begets energy and in order to get something out of it you have to put
something in.
The space should be lit well enough to read. A
lot of churches turn their lights down low and light a lot of candles
for atmosphere. This is nice but one of my churches did this and a
woman tripped over something because she couldn't see, she broke her hip
and sued the church. The pastor tried lying to her lawyers and
encourage the staff to lie but someone who was was socially conscious
told the truth. Some churches encourage people to bring their own
pillows or provide them with cushions so they can sit on the floor. One
church I knew provided tiny little water bottles for dry throats.
The
selection of music and text is important too. Consider what is going
on in the world, in the country, in the community or in the church.
What text can you sing which will break open these issues to create
greater awareness or action? Music is an expression of faith not merely
entertainment. We don't sing because we're happy, we're happy because
we sing. People don't have faith because they love music, they love
music because they have faith.
Taizé may not be for everyone.
It is like Grappa, you either love it or hate it. It may take work to
feel comfortable at a Taizé service because sitting for an hour singing
songs over and over can be boring for people without the patience, will
or strength. To sit and meditate on a single sentence and contemplate
its veracity in their life takes conscious effort. I can promise
though, if you do sing, you will be oxygenating your blood, your heart
will pump faster, your brain cells will be getting fresh oxygenated
blood, your circulation will improve and you will become more alert. In
essence you will leave a different person than when you came in.
Singing for an hour about thanksgiving, adoration, supplication and
contrition will teach us that life is worth living and your belief will
help create the fact. Out of what we live and believe, our lives will
become that. Energy begets energy. Metanoia doesn't happen to those
who don't try.
Why should we think upon things that are
beautiful? Because thinking determines life. It is a common habit to
blame life upon the environment. Environment modifies life but does not
govern life. The soul is stronger than its surroundings.
Showing posts with label prayer service. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prayer service. Show all posts
Monday, February 3, 2014
Sunday, April 14, 2013
MOVEMENT PRAYER SERVICE
I once organized a weekend dance retreat where we had over 80 students
of all ages participate in workshops designed for sacred movement. The
talks and demonstrations which were presented by three local dance
teachers covered topics such as suitable clothing; working with sacred
props, dancing with candles and water; dancing the seasons; working the
Sacred Space; and a several other topics. The whole retreat culminated
with this service.
This is a flexible service which you can break up into small components for smaller gatherings. You can have the attendees assume the positions, you may have actors assume the positions, have dancers choreograph a short routine for each of the sections. Your imagination is your only limitation.
Are you ever restless? Does your heart get hungry? Week after week, when you go to the church, do you ever feel there should be something more? Nice churches, nice people, nice town, nice neighborhood, nice music, nice friends, nice preacher, nice this, nice that. But, who the heck wants everything nice all the time? Some in the church are restless, dreaming of something more. Are you ever restless that in the church all is not good? All is not well?
Bowing (Please bow)
If I could not bend low, how could I embrace a child? If I could not bend low, how could I tie someone's shoes? If I could not bend low, how could I make someone's bed? If I could not bend low, how could I give someone bath? If I could not bend low, how could I lift the fallen. If I could not bend low, how could I take bread from the oven? If I could not bend low, how could I comfort the suffering? How could I acknowledge my profound reverence before God if I could not bend low?
Sign of the Cross
We make the sign of the cross at the beginning and end of the Mass. The sign of the Cross is made on us at the beginning and end of our lives. At the beginning and end of all we do stands the sign of the cross, saying: this place, this space of time, this life, this child, these people, this corpse, all belong to the Lord. For, he bears in his body the marks of that same cross.
Can you hear it through the ages, like a mighty trumpet call, the call to leave your nets and follow? It's a call to joy and gladness. It's a call to life and birth. It's a call to plant the seeds of love. It's a call to joyful expectation.
Make the sign of the cross. It's a blood stained invitation to a life of sacrifice. It's a call to face the makers of destruction and of war. It's a call to be the lowly. It's a call to be the least. It's a call to join the suffering and to bear the weeper's load. It's a call to death and dying. It's a call to live like fools. Take your cross in hand and follow, for this place, this space of time, this life, this child, thesepeople, this corpse, all belong to the Lord.
(lead them up the center aisle) Processing
We skip and limp and march and run and shuffle and stroll. Over peaks and valleys and sand and stone and mud and grass and dust and streams.
What is a procession? It is a journey distilled. Why journey? We journey to discover the source. We journey to discover the ground. We journey to discover the companion. We journey to discover the way. Like Melchior, in days of old, we journey to find a treasure in the most unlikely of places. Some people ask, why do we need to go somewhere? Why do we need to go on a journey or follow a star? (gesture to the building) Can't we find all the God we need right here?
Kneeling (please kneel)
Here we are, on our knees.
The wrestler, forced to his knees
the lover, proposing on his knees
the plaintiff, going down on her knees
the victim, flinging herself to her knees
the beggar, groveling on his knees
the loyal subject, falling to her knees
the loser, brought to his knees
the worshiper, taking to her knees
Before God, we are all of these.
Standing (look to Paul)
Just as a lawyer stands beside his client during the sentencing, we stand with the Lord as we are called to stand side by side with the weak, the poor, those imprisoned, those falsely accused, or the outcast.
Does the power of the Lord bring you to your feet to stand beside a man dying of AIDS? Does the power of the Lord bring you to your feet to stand before a woman contemplating an abortion? Does the power of the Lord bring you to your feet to stand against giants or governments of war and persecution? Does the power of the Lord bring you to your feet to stand before those considering suicide? Does the power of the Lord bring you to your feet to stand beside those imprisoned by guilt, beside those imprisoned by pride, beside those imprisoned by sorrow, beside those imprisoned by loneliness, beside those imprisoned by age? Awake, Jerusalem, arise! The power of God's holy Word rallies God's people, it brings us to our feet.
Sitting ()
The middle child of posture. Not the complete abandon of lying down, not the height of power, standing in full stature, but somewhere in the middle, between action and rest.
Jesus sat with ordinary people. He sat down to table with even the disreputable. Public opinion was never a problem with Jesus. He never had anything to lose because everything he had he shared. He served through his teaching, his healing, and his liberating people from evil influences. He was a genuine human person, a real brother to the poor, the weak, the sick, the alienated. He was not a benefactor, or a patron, or a philanthropist - but a brother.
In this lies the greatness of Jesus. To have real power and influence one does not control or manipulate. One serves and builds and loves. When we sit still, we are willing to listen, ready to be beckoned, waiting, receptive, open. In this posture of sitting, the Word of the Lord may begin to be heard.
Offertory
On Sunday, as the basket passes, we offer money. Money means a lot to us. We may be proud or embarrassed by the amount of money we make. It defines the clothes we wear, the houses we live in, the food we eat, the community we live in, the car we drive. That is the spiritual reason for offering money to God, because it bears so much of our personal identity. The real gift to God, though, is ourselves.
As the priest prepares the gifts to be sacrificed to God, he drops a little ordinary water into the wine and silently prays: "By the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity." In the preparation of the gifts, the water symbolizes our ordinary human nature and the wine symbolizes the divine nature. A little of the water mixes with the wine, gets lost in and becomes part of the wine. Just as the prayer says, "May we come to share in the divinity of Christ."
What is your offering to God? What do you offer God? $5? $10? $50? How much of yourself do you want God to have? Will you live a life of sacrifice? Will you oppose the makers of destruction and of war? Will you stand with the lowly and the least? Will you join the suffering, bear the weeper's load or live like a fool? Do you want to participate in the divinity of Christ? These can be hard questions. Will God settle for money?
Keeping Silence
Speech must die to serve that which is spoken. (60 seconds of silence)
The Lord is in this holy temple: let the earth keep silence and adore.
Watching
There is a beautiful Taize chant that reads: Stay with me, remain here with me. Watch and pray. Watch and pray.
Immanuel, a name which means "God is with us." It does not mean that God solves our problems, shows us the way out of our confusion, or offers answers for our many questions. It means he is with us, willing to enter with us into our problems, confusions, and questions. We, do not aspire to suffer with others. On the contrary, we develop methods and techniques that allow us to stay away from pain. Hospitals, nursing homes, rest homes, funeral homes, they all often become places to hide the sick, the suffering, and the dead. Suffering is unattractive, repelling and disgusting. The less we are confronted with it, the better. It is something we want to avoid at all cost. Among some people, compassion is not among our most natural responses. But, in times of trial, if someone were to say to us, "I do not know what to say or what to do, but I want you to realize that I am with you, that I will not leave you alone," we have a friend through whom we can find consolation and comfort.
What really counts, is that in the moments of pain and suffering, someone stays with us. More important than any particular action, or, word of advice, is the simple presence of someone who cares. They show solidarity with us by willingly entering the dark spaces of our lives. For this reason, they, like God, are the ones who bring hope and help us discover new directions. From the Beatitudes, Jesus says, "Blessed are those who mourn." Not because mourning is good, but because they shall be comforted.
Please Fold your Hands in a Praying Position
St. Vincent de Paul writes: "If a needy person requires medicine or other help during your prayer time, do whatever has to be done with peace of mind. Offer that deed to God as your prayer. Do not become upset or feel guilty because you use your prayer time to serve the poor. God is not neglected if you leave him for real service. You should prefer the service of the poor to making your prayer. For, it is not enough to love God, if, your neighbor does not also love God."
Here you are, you press against your own skin and bone and feel the pulse of your blood. Do you feel the warmth or cold, the tension or relaxation, the roughness or smoothness? These hands touch the ones you love, hold the things you treasure, perform the constant countless motions of your living. For now, these hands do nothing, they are not useful held this way, kept by each other from all movement of living and serving. Pressed to each other, there is no space for holding anything or anyone. For the moment these hands, are empty (and useless) and still.
Outstretched Arms (the orans position)
The tiny child, tired and frustrated by its own weight, frustrated by its own helplessness, stretches out and up, wordlessly seeking, hoping, vulnerable but trusting, pleading eloquently with frail arms. Standing quietly before the Lord, alert, watchful, ready and grateful, hopeful and expansive, with arms raised in joy, hope, desire and confidence, lift your hands to the poor, the tired, embrace the weak, embrace the suicidal, embrace the prostitute, embrace the beaten, embrace the dying. Meet God's embrace, vulnerable and waiting.
(Wait for the end of this meditation to make...) Sign of Peace
For a moment, there is hesitation or even reluctance to enter the space between strangers. Reserved and cautious, we choose some appropriate sign of Christ's peace. Over aisle and empty space - a smile or a wave. To those within arm's length - a clasp of hands. Among family and friends - an embrace or a kiss. The bounds of propriety prevail.
On Sunday, while we are in our nice churches, with our nice friends, and our nice music, before our nice flowers, in our nice communities, who is smiling at the belligerent teenager addicted to drugs or alcohol? Who clasps the hand of the hungry and poor? Who embraces the man with AIDS? Who welcomes the prostitute? Who is there to kiss the homeless? Who acknowledges the shy and lonely? Is there a restless stirring among us? Is it the peace of Christ freeing us to touch, to embrace, to kiss even the stranger in our midst? Indeed, the peace of Christ is with us. But, are you ever restless?
In the words of St. Vincent de Paul, go forth and serve your fellow man, and offer it as your prayer to God.
This is a flexible service which you can break up into small components for smaller gatherings. You can have the attendees assume the positions, you may have actors assume the positions, have dancers choreograph a short routine for each of the sections. Your imagination is your only limitation.
Are you ever restless? Does your heart get hungry? Week after week, when you go to the church, do you ever feel there should be something more? Nice churches, nice people, nice town, nice neighborhood, nice music, nice friends, nice preacher, nice this, nice that. But, who the heck wants everything nice all the time? Some in the church are restless, dreaming of something more. Are you ever restless that in the church all is not good? All is not well?
Bowing (Please bow)
If I could not bend low, how could I embrace a child? If I could not bend low, how could I tie someone's shoes? If I could not bend low, how could I make someone's bed? If I could not bend low, how could I give someone bath? If I could not bend low, how could I lift the fallen. If I could not bend low, how could I take bread from the oven? If I could not bend low, how could I comfort the suffering? How could I acknowledge my profound reverence before God if I could not bend low?
Sign of the Cross
We make the sign of the cross at the beginning and end of the Mass. The sign of the Cross is made on us at the beginning and end of our lives. At the beginning and end of all we do stands the sign of the cross, saying: this place, this space of time, this life, this child, these people, this corpse, all belong to the Lord. For, he bears in his body the marks of that same cross.
Can you hear it through the ages, like a mighty trumpet call, the call to leave your nets and follow? It's a call to joy and gladness. It's a call to life and birth. It's a call to plant the seeds of love. It's a call to joyful expectation.
Make the sign of the cross. It's a blood stained invitation to a life of sacrifice. It's a call to face the makers of destruction and of war. It's a call to be the lowly. It's a call to be the least. It's a call to join the suffering and to bear the weeper's load. It's a call to death and dying. It's a call to live like fools. Take your cross in hand and follow, for this place, this space of time, this life, this child, thesepeople, this corpse, all belong to the Lord.
(lead them up the center aisle) Processing
We skip and limp and march and run and shuffle and stroll. Over peaks and valleys and sand and stone and mud and grass and dust and streams.
What is a procession? It is a journey distilled. Why journey? We journey to discover the source. We journey to discover the ground. We journey to discover the companion. We journey to discover the way. Like Melchior, in days of old, we journey to find a treasure in the most unlikely of places. Some people ask, why do we need to go somewhere? Why do we need to go on a journey or follow a star? (gesture to the building) Can't we find all the God we need right here?
Kneeling (please kneel)
Here we are, on our knees.
The wrestler, forced to his knees
the lover, proposing on his knees
the plaintiff, going down on her knees
the victim, flinging herself to her knees
the beggar, groveling on his knees
the loyal subject, falling to her knees
the loser, brought to his knees
the worshiper, taking to her knees
Before God, we are all of these.
Standing (look to Paul)
Just as a lawyer stands beside his client during the sentencing, we stand with the Lord as we are called to stand side by side with the weak, the poor, those imprisoned, those falsely accused, or the outcast.
Does the power of the Lord bring you to your feet to stand beside a man dying of AIDS? Does the power of the Lord bring you to your feet to stand before a woman contemplating an abortion? Does the power of the Lord bring you to your feet to stand against giants or governments of war and persecution? Does the power of the Lord bring you to your feet to stand before those considering suicide? Does the power of the Lord bring you to your feet to stand beside those imprisoned by guilt, beside those imprisoned by pride, beside those imprisoned by sorrow, beside those imprisoned by loneliness, beside those imprisoned by age? Awake, Jerusalem, arise! The power of God's holy Word rallies God's people, it brings us to our feet.
Sitting ()
The middle child of posture. Not the complete abandon of lying down, not the height of power, standing in full stature, but somewhere in the middle, between action and rest.
Jesus sat with ordinary people. He sat down to table with even the disreputable. Public opinion was never a problem with Jesus. He never had anything to lose because everything he had he shared. He served through his teaching, his healing, and his liberating people from evil influences. He was a genuine human person, a real brother to the poor, the weak, the sick, the alienated. He was not a benefactor, or a patron, or a philanthropist - but a brother.
In this lies the greatness of Jesus. To have real power and influence one does not control or manipulate. One serves and builds and loves. When we sit still, we are willing to listen, ready to be beckoned, waiting, receptive, open. In this posture of sitting, the Word of the Lord may begin to be heard.
Offertory
On Sunday, as the basket passes, we offer money. Money means a lot to us. We may be proud or embarrassed by the amount of money we make. It defines the clothes we wear, the houses we live in, the food we eat, the community we live in, the car we drive. That is the spiritual reason for offering money to God, because it bears so much of our personal identity. The real gift to God, though, is ourselves.
As the priest prepares the gifts to be sacrificed to God, he drops a little ordinary water into the wine and silently prays: "By the mystery of this water and wine, may we come to share in the divinity of Christ, who humbled himself to share in our humanity." In the preparation of the gifts, the water symbolizes our ordinary human nature and the wine symbolizes the divine nature. A little of the water mixes with the wine, gets lost in and becomes part of the wine. Just as the prayer says, "May we come to share in the divinity of Christ."
What is your offering to God? What do you offer God? $5? $10? $50? How much of yourself do you want God to have? Will you live a life of sacrifice? Will you oppose the makers of destruction and of war? Will you stand with the lowly and the least? Will you join the suffering, bear the weeper's load or live like a fool? Do you want to participate in the divinity of Christ? These can be hard questions. Will God settle for money?
Keeping Silence
Speech must die to serve that which is spoken. (60 seconds of silence)
The Lord is in this holy temple: let the earth keep silence and adore.
Watching
There is a beautiful Taize chant that reads: Stay with me, remain here with me. Watch and pray. Watch and pray.
Immanuel, a name which means "God is with us." It does not mean that God solves our problems, shows us the way out of our confusion, or offers answers for our many questions. It means he is with us, willing to enter with us into our problems, confusions, and questions. We, do not aspire to suffer with others. On the contrary, we develop methods and techniques that allow us to stay away from pain. Hospitals, nursing homes, rest homes, funeral homes, they all often become places to hide the sick, the suffering, and the dead. Suffering is unattractive, repelling and disgusting. The less we are confronted with it, the better. It is something we want to avoid at all cost. Among some people, compassion is not among our most natural responses. But, in times of trial, if someone were to say to us, "I do not know what to say or what to do, but I want you to realize that I am with you, that I will not leave you alone," we have a friend through whom we can find consolation and comfort.
What really counts, is that in the moments of pain and suffering, someone stays with us. More important than any particular action, or, word of advice, is the simple presence of someone who cares. They show solidarity with us by willingly entering the dark spaces of our lives. For this reason, they, like God, are the ones who bring hope and help us discover new directions. From the Beatitudes, Jesus says, "Blessed are those who mourn." Not because mourning is good, but because they shall be comforted.
Please Fold your Hands in a Praying Position
St. Vincent de Paul writes: "If a needy person requires medicine or other help during your prayer time, do whatever has to be done with peace of mind. Offer that deed to God as your prayer. Do not become upset or feel guilty because you use your prayer time to serve the poor. God is not neglected if you leave him for real service. You should prefer the service of the poor to making your prayer. For, it is not enough to love God, if, your neighbor does not also love God."
Here you are, you press against your own skin and bone and feel the pulse of your blood. Do you feel the warmth or cold, the tension or relaxation, the roughness or smoothness? These hands touch the ones you love, hold the things you treasure, perform the constant countless motions of your living. For now, these hands do nothing, they are not useful held this way, kept by each other from all movement of living and serving. Pressed to each other, there is no space for holding anything or anyone. For the moment these hands, are empty (and useless) and still.
Outstretched Arms (the orans position)
The tiny child, tired and frustrated by its own weight, frustrated by its own helplessness, stretches out and up, wordlessly seeking, hoping, vulnerable but trusting, pleading eloquently with frail arms. Standing quietly before the Lord, alert, watchful, ready and grateful, hopeful and expansive, with arms raised in joy, hope, desire and confidence, lift your hands to the poor, the tired, embrace the weak, embrace the suicidal, embrace the prostitute, embrace the beaten, embrace the dying. Meet God's embrace, vulnerable and waiting.
(Wait for the end of this meditation to make...) Sign of Peace
For a moment, there is hesitation or even reluctance to enter the space between strangers. Reserved and cautious, we choose some appropriate sign of Christ's peace. Over aisle and empty space - a smile or a wave. To those within arm's length - a clasp of hands. Among family and friends - an embrace or a kiss. The bounds of propriety prevail.
On Sunday, while we are in our nice churches, with our nice friends, and our nice music, before our nice flowers, in our nice communities, who is smiling at the belligerent teenager addicted to drugs or alcohol? Who clasps the hand of the hungry and poor? Who embraces the man with AIDS? Who welcomes the prostitute? Who is there to kiss the homeless? Who acknowledges the shy and lonely? Is there a restless stirring among us? Is it the peace of Christ freeing us to touch, to embrace, to kiss even the stranger in our midst? Indeed, the peace of Christ is with us. But, are you ever restless?
In the words of St. Vincent de Paul, go forth and serve your fellow man, and offer it as your prayer to God.
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