I don’t know what it’s like where you live, but in L.A. it’s much safer to drop the F-bomb than the J-word in mixed company. If you’re in the South— Mississippi, Alabama, Texas— droppin’ Jesus’s name is no more controversial than ordering a Coca-Cola, but in the major coastal cities of the U.S., it simplyContinue reading “Jesus, the name of God (yikes!)”
Category Archives: My Pilgrimage to Taize
Clean at last
One might think that time spent in a monastic community anchored in ethereal chant music might pass in a dream state, floating effortlessly from one inspired moment to another. Someone else might have had that experience but for me Taize was a constant string of strategic and tactical decisions designed to maximize one-of-a-kind learning, prayer,Continue reading “Clean at last”
How joyful are the lights
Journal Entry, Thursday nite: “A hundred flickering votives, the slow devotions dancing and bursting, they move wildly, beyond all control, but never seem to blow themselves out. The flame holds steady fed by whatever the source of wind is here inside the sanctuary. The Spirit in us, we dance, we burst, we do not sitContinue reading “How joyful are the lights”
Orangina at the Oyak
After the group session I walked down to the Oyak, the Taize cafe that opens three times a day for a half an hour or so. The Brothers had come up with the idea for the small concession stand— where everything is sold at cost— to prevent vending trucks from coming into the village andContinue reading “Orangina at the Oyak”
Talk amongst yourselves
I felt blessed beyond measure to see that the two salt-n-pepper Brits who I had grown so fond of on Wednesday had decided to leave a little bit later so that they could be with us for one more group session. Sometimes I wonder if people realize when they don’t show up for a something—Continue reading “Talk amongst yourselves”
