Home Again Home Again

I arrived home at 1am on Thursday morning. It was a six hour flight from London to Montreal. Sitting next to me was a young man returning home to Halifax. He had just spent two and a half months in Uzbekistan as a fireman on their oil rigs. Interestingly, he had trained in 2000 at the fire training station in Foxtrap. On the flight home, we travelled over Labrador, the first part of North America we saw. After the flatness of England and France, it was so wonderful to see the tree covered hill and lakes of central Labrador and to know you close to home. I had a three hour stop over in Montreal. It was a summer day, 24C and sunny. So I went outside for a while. Many Orthodox Jews were arriving , all dressed in tradition black garb with curls and prayer shawls. Going to Israel I would guess. Then a flight home to clear skies and 3C. It was good to return. Now back to the mundane things of life (it reminds me of the mandala painting I did in Iona during week two; a mandala is a painting divided into parts representing your life and the bottom part of the circle represents the mundane of life). So off I go to finish the laundry and cut the grass. In the glorious Newfoundland sun.

Heathrow

I have arrived at Heathrow Airport (from where I now type this) and am awaiting my flight home. I leave in two hours. Yesterday I attended Choral Evensong again at Canterbury Cathedral again. Another great song by the boys and mens choir, a piece by Vaughan Williams, Let every corner of the earth sing (I think it was called). It rained yesterday and today. And I finished my time in England with kippers and bread for breakfast. I am glad to be coming home. See you all soon.

Canterbury

After finding my hotel, Millers Arms Hotel, which took a bit of walking around, quite a job with my backpack, I then started exploring Canterbury. I am staying in the heart of the old city with its narrow cobbled stoned roadways. I attended Sung Evensong last night at Canterbury Cathedral, a must for any Anglican !!!!, (what a great choir). I also attended the 8am Eucharist this morning. it was held in St. Gregory's Chapel, where a plaque asks us to remember Geoffrey Fisher, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1945-1961. Being a member of the local Council of Churches, it was wonderful to know that Fisher was a founding president of the World Council of Churches, a good connection for me. He was the first Archbishop of Canterbury to visit Rome, John XXIII, in 400 years, when he visited in 1960 and reopened the dialogue. This morning I visited St Dunstan's Church, where the head of Sir Thomas More is entombed. While in England last month, I saw the episode of the series, The Tutors, where Sir Thomas More was beheaded. Visiting the church brought that show home to me. Now I am off to visit more sites and then in the morning, the train to Heathrow and home at 1am on Thursday.

Paris

I arrived in Paris at 4pm on Sunday. Then I went exploring. I went to the Arc de Triumph (or something along those spelling lines) and it was free admission. Climbed to the top and had a wonderful view of Paris. I was amazed at how white all the buildings are. I then walked to the American Cathedral but I was too late for their 6pm Taize service, to which I was invited by the clergy from there who had visited Taize. Unfortunately the church was locked. Just down the street is the imitation flame of the Statue of Liberty and the tunnel where Princess Diana died. Then a walk over the Seine and on to the Eiffel Tower. By the time I reached the top, it was night and Paris sparkled with all its lights. I then phoned my children, and Bethany said being in the Tower was better than her studying English. I left Paris Monday morning, arriving in Canterbury via Dover ferry at 3pm, on a wet day.

Silence and Light

We have just celebrated the Eucharist and I am preparing to leave Taize to catch the bus and train to Paris for the night. The music will remain, especially since I bought two CD's, one of singing, one of music. Last night, to prepare for this morning's Mass, at the end of the evening worship was held the Vigil of Light, where everyone had candle and the church was lit with light. Their candles are dripless and go out after four minutes, like magic. One thing that will stay with me is the silence of Taize. At every service after the reading is ten minutes of silence. It is a wonderful time of prayer and reflection. It is amazing too how over 700 people, mostly young people, can be silent that long. The silence does feed the soul. (On the Taize site, you can listen to songs, see the music, hear the bells and also hear the Saturday night worship through Domradio (either live or recorded). The one I attended is recorded there. The link is Prayer & Song, then MP3 & Broadcast)

Adjusting

Like ny commnity life, you gradually adjust. Taize is more enjoyable now, I am more aware of the routine, I know a few more English speaking people, and the weather has warmed up, a bit. Tonight's worship ended with the cross icon in the centre on the church, laying flat, with a candle on it. People gathered around to pray. Icons and their adortion has never been a part of my faith journey and I am still mystified by it, especially the attraction for young people. It might be a Eropean mentality or maybe a Roman Catholic mentality.
Br. Aylos, the head brother, who took over on Br. Roger's death, spoke to us last night. He had been with Pope Benedict in Paris on Sunday. And I was in Paris at the same time, but I didn't see Benedict. Those from North America met with a brother from Philadelphia yesterday, 5 Canadians and one American, plus three Americans from the Anglican Cathedral in Paris visiting for the day. He explained some of Taize style and purpose. One thing is that Taize has evolved and is still evolving to meet the needs of the young who come. One example is simplifying the worship.
One last thought, Taize is best visited with others not alone. Despite the numbers, it can be a lonely place if here by yourself. It is not as suited to single visitors as Iona is.

Icons

The Church of the Reconciliation, as the Church in the Taize Community is called, is very orthodox looking, from the onion shaped steeples to the many icons around inside. Plus candles galore. I am amazed at how all the young people just spend so much time in the front the icons. At the evening worship, each night, when lot of the brothers leave, the others move near the front, and the icon of the crucifixtion is brought into the centre behind the brothers and people just pour into te centre to kneel before the icon and pray and worship. Part of it might be that the vast majority of people here are both Roman atholic and from Europe, especially Germany and Poland, where the use of icons is very pevelant. The music is very soothing as you worship, but very much in the monastic tradation of repeating the phrase, over and over. But in that way it is also very similar to contemporary charismatic Christian music, especially such as Graham Kennedric's from England. Still cold nights and mornings here in Taize. It does warm up. And bread and cheeze every breakfast.