Taize Singing There and Here

My first music at Findhorn was on the Sunday the day after I arrived. We traveled by shuttle from Cluny to Findhorn Park to join in Taize singing – a regular practice. Here is the first song I heard and sang.

This is a link on U tube. It has recorder and flute accompaniment. It doesn’t say who the singers are, but gives a feeling of the music. Mon ame se repose

We sang a capella in a chorus – circles of community sitting on the floor in the octagonal shaped room.

It was disarming. I felt layers of judgement about the current relevance of the church dissolve and gently settle into the rich harmonies. My heart had hardened to religion. So much of it today seems married to war and strife.

And this evening, these many weeks after visiting sites of conflict in both Scotland and Derry, Ireland, I listen to these songs. Sometimes I sing along, sometimes there are a few tears.

There is something in the gentle repetition that brings relief – succor. When people sing these songs together, quite simply, there is no fighting or discord.

I saw a fleeting glimpse of the Celtic zeal I heard about in Columba and others from Ireland one morning at the daily Taize singing prior to communal breakfast. The song leader that morning spoke little between songs, just enough for me to recognize that he was Irish. But while singing, he closed his eyes and his expression was of “deep peace” as he gently swayed and transcended time and place.

Through his posture I sensed that ecstatic peace that in my imagination I associate with early Celtic Christianity when it interfaced so closely with the Druids. It was that early form of Christianity distinct from Roman Christianity that in the Dark Ages created the illuminated Books of Kells and Lindesfarne.

Something beyond politics and dominance; something joyous and free, gentle, soothing and simple. And inspired by nature.

The community of Findhorn learned about Taize singing from southern France and have incorporated it into a daily practice. Early on in this journal when I visited Chartres I mentioned that I felt there was a connection with France that I would discover. For me this is it. And I think it goes beyond any particular religion.

Taize

Song phrases

harmony in quadrants

side by side

sway by sway

breath by breath

Taize singing

is like settling into a nest

of sound twigs

nurturing the cosmic egg

repetition,

chant,

peace.