Taizé is an ecumenical community in
mid-France near to the city of Lyon in which I had the pleasure of spending a
week. It was an ineffable experience but I will try my best to do it justice; a
task I simply will not achieve.
Despite being a Christian run community, including
daily bible talks and prayers three times a day, the atmosphere was very
welcoming of those of other belief systems. Everyone we encountered was calm
and accepting, this may have been something intrinsic to Taizé or simply a
fundamental characteristic of the patrons, or possibly a numinous movement by
the Holy Spirit. There was a lot of time given to us for silent reflection and
personal growth, I maximised this time by considering some theological issues I
have with Christianity, although I did not come back a converted Christian I
did manage to overcome some obstacles in the way. Some of these came through
systematic theology and others from conversations with fellow visitors.
There were two main issues I resolved
internally and they are as follows;
Loving God by reason: Most people will conclude that it is not
rational to say “God loves me” but it is just as irrational to say “my mother
loves me”. In both instances despite ones mother being a physical being that
one can interact with, the answer we get from this question still requires a
certain level of belief and trust in the honesty of the answer, so in this way
it is just as reasonable (or irrational depending on your viewpoint) to accept
this answer, in both cases we are accepting the love from someone who brought
us into creation.
God's presence: I have historically held the position
that one should not accept a belief in God in times of weakness and
vulnerability, as in these times we are more susceptible to things we don’t
really believe in. However if God were to reach out to man he would reach out
to him in these times of weakness as in strength we often feel as if we don’t
need God. God will find the hungry, the
sick and the poor more than the rich the fed and the healthy. (John 6:35, Luke
1:53)
The head brother also resolved an issue I
have with the division in the Church, it is common to see every denomination
trying to take God for themselves, but Brother Alois believes that the Church
will always find a unity as “Christ is united”. I found myself agreeing with
this as Jesus is in hypostatic union with his humanity and divinity and Christ
is the Church that never falls so in this way the Church is always united.
During this week I met many new people
from all walks of life, I gained a lot from them and I would hope that they too
gained something from me in return, sometimes it was a major revelation and
sometimes it was simply them setting the first cogs in motion that led to a
greater conclusion. During this week I discovered the real meaning of Christian
discipleship, and what it means to “love thy neighbour”. Taizé is a prime
example of the genuine visible community of Christ, whether by their own
righteousness or not, in any case I have never been more content than I am
after this visit.
"Taizé is a little piece of the garden of Eden. Everyone respects each other, everyone is equal and we are all friends even if we have never met before."
