I sat in the front passenger seat of a BMW taxi as we quickly wound our way up the narrow streets of a village that was older than my own country, less populated than the city block I grew up on, and had hosted more young adults from around the world in less than a century than many mainline American denominational conventions ever have. I really didn’t know what to expect from my first visit to Taizé, but this wasn’t the entrance I had in mind. A solo ride in a brand new luxury vehicle to a monastic community…

But you know what, it worked. Those initial stark contrasts warmed me up to grasp the reality of the Taizé community: a grace-filled harmony of countless contradictions. Ça marche.

Ça marche is a popular and beloved saying in French which casually means “it works” or “it’s all good”. (Literally it means “it walks”). When I think about all of the paradoxes, contradictions and unliklihoods of Taizé, I can’t help thinking to myself “ça marche!”

The ecumenical monastic order of Taizé began in 1940 when a young, spirit-filled man who grew up in Switzerland in the Reformed Protestant church wanted to serve and care for the people of rural France who were afflicted by WWII and the occupation of the German military. That young man, now known and lovingly remembered as Brother Roger, hid Jews and other refugees in an old home in Taize with his sister (until they all had to flee for safety when their mission was discovered). At the end of WWII, Brother Roger returned to Taize with a handful of other men wanting to dedicate their lives to God through communal life. They opened their shared communal life to the care of war orphans and German prisoners-of-war. A formal order of monastic living shortly followed.

So many beginning pieces of this spiritual community in Taizé would not be expected to work out together –  a young reformed protestant creating an ecumenical monastery in a catholic village in the mid 20th century, hiding Jews, caring for orphans and prisoners of war… how this could work out doesn’t make sense to a rational mind. But for the purpose of God’s Kingdom and with the power of God’s grace, it worked and still works. Ça marche.

You can read more about the history and purpose of Taizé here.

To make a pilgrimage to Taizé is most likely to spend a week at the monastery, residing in a bunk house, your own camper/RV or a tent. You are expected to go to the prayer services three times a day, join in communal meals and scripture lessons, participate in a small group meeting every day, and to serve the community through assigned chores. The chores are basic; I helped clean the bathrooms every day for a week. The meals were basic too; always including a red bowl to drink or eat from!

As you can see and probably imagine, the people aren’t coming for the food in the red bowls. Haha!

But they do come for the prayer services. Song, scripture, spoken prayers and silence are the structure of all the services and the sacrament of communion is offered in the evening.

The sanctuary is situated so that one’s attention doesn’t automatically settle on a single person, but can instead find inspiration from the candle light, stained glass windows, greenery, icons/art, or the view of hundreds or thousands of people worshipping together. No one stands in front to lead the service, but the 100+ brothers sit in the center of the floor with the thousands of young adults sitting on the floor around them, and all of us more “seasoned” adults, lol, sitting on the benches along the side. Discrete screens along the walls will declare what song number to sing, and besides the reading of scripture from the back of the sanctuary, all other speaking is simply heard through the sound system. Ça marche.

 

I wasn’t able to get a picture of the sanctuary lit up with candle light during the prayer services, but I did sneak this photo of one of the songs we were singing. The songs were sung in many different languages (with several translations offered for each song), and they all were just a few lines repeated multiple times. The repetitive rhythm and lyrics reminded me of centering prayer; inviting each of us into deeper reflection of the words and their meaning by singing the same words over and over again. Meditative prayer through song. Ça marche.

People also come to Taizé for the community. The order of Taizé is a diverse ecumenical order. The brothers come from a variety of Protestant and Catholic religious traditions as well as coming from all over the world. Guests from all over the world and every religious tradition are welcomed, including on average over 100,000 young adults every year!! In my week there, I talked with young adults from every continent. These young adults (and us seasoned adults) are encouraged and empowered to take what we’ve learned and experienced at Taizé out to all the corners of the world, sharing the peace and reconciliation of Christ with our own societies and cultures. If you have a chance to attend a Taizé style service in your community, check it out! Ça marche.

I’ve often heard people say they are afraid the Church is dying. I understand that fear and concern, but after my week in Taizé I can’t say I share that fear. Friends, multitudes of young adults are showing up with their faith, their fear, their intellect and their intention to seek God in all aspects of their world. Perhaps what feels like the death of the Church in the declining numbers of mainline denominations’ membership is more like a transformation of the Church…breaking away from segregated communities of theology and polity, and growing together as a grace-filled body of contradictions, shared love and mutual purpose. In Isaiah 11:6 there is imagery of the wolf residing with the lamb when the Kingdom of God is complete. Can we imagine right now a wolf living peacefully in the same pasture as a lamb? No, that seems to be one of the biggest contradictions for the natural order of our world. But that is the imagery of what life lived fully in the presence of God will look like.

I can’t help but wonder if a community like Taizé is God’s way to prepare us to let down our personal, social, and religious borders so that we may learn to embrace love through the contradictions of our lives.

 

Taizé…a thin space where you feel heaven touching earth. Ça marche.