Peace, simplicity, song, silence and community.
Life in Berkeley can become crowded and stressful very quickly. Often we forget how to connect with simplicity, quiet and spiritual refreshment. Praying in the tradition of the Taizé community is one way to stop, breathe and re-center yourself through simple chant, silence and a meal shared with friends. Each wee following our Taco Thursday dinner at 6:30 we gather for contemplative prayer in the chapel in the Taizé tradition.
About Taizé:
During the second world war, a young student of theology was so upset to see Europe torn apart that he devoted his life to living reconciliation. After fleeing the Gestapo for his work to rescue people from Germany Brother Roger, as he became known, gathered a few young men to form a monastic order which transcended the words protestant, catholic or orthodox.
Over time young adults from all over the world began coming to take part in this “parable of community.” Now 8000 people come each week from every part of the world during the summer months.
Taizé prayer is based largely in short chants sung repeatedly so that the simple truths become a part of one’s inner vocabulary. The hope is to discover through song that there is a presence within which prays even more deeply.
At the heart of the prayer is silence, the time when we stop everything to be and to listen.
“Since my youth, I think that I have never lost the intuition that community life could be a sign that God is love, and love alone. Gradually the conviction took shape in me that it was essential to create a community with men determined to give their whole life and who would always try to understand one another and be reconciled, a community where kindness of heart and simplicity would be at the centre of everything.” Brother Roger of Taizé
