It was new to me as this evening in an ongoing effort to explore different expressions of the Christian faith, I found myself attending a Taize service to reflect on Jesus during this Holy Week.
In the order of worship sheet, I found out that Taize is a community of faith in France.
Their mode of worship is to encourage contemplation and slowing down and turning down the noise level of life. To be honest it was quite jarring to my million miles an hour racing mind!
In poking around the web page, I came across these thoughts on the value of silence:
Sometimes we are apparently silent, and yet we have great discussions within, struggling with imaginary partners or with ourselves. Calming our souls requires a kind of simplicity: "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvellous for me." Silence means recognising that my worries can’t do much. Silence means leaving to God what is beyond my reach and capacity. A moment of silence, even very short, is like a holy stop, a sabbatical rest, a truce of worries.During the service, I found it difficult to corral and push out the door all the noise in my mind. Only toward the very end did I reach a point of surrender and say to God, you are Great and I want to release all my anxieties to you.
.........
When we are agitated and restless, we have so many arguments and reasons not to forgive and not to love too easily. But when we "have calmed and quieted our soul", these reasons turn out to be quite insignificant. Maybe we sometimes avoid silence, preferring whatever noise, words or distraction, because inner peace is a risky thing: it makes us empty and poor, disintegrates bitterness and leads us to the gift of ourselves. Silent and poor, our hearts are overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit, filled with an unconditional love. Silence is a humble yet secure path to loving.
The service ended and I was back on the go.
I suppose I should a encourage myself during the typical day to have some "holy stops?"
What do you think?
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