Taize chants and the Bible

For our Advent musings tonight, we looked at the biblical roots of Taize Chants, and discovered how they might help prepare us for Christs coming. Many are based on the Psalms of David, and reading the psalms alongside the Taize chants they inspired, has added a great deal of meaning to them for me. I'll just see if I can add an outline of the service to this blog:

Wait for the Lord whose day is near, wait for the Lord, keep watch take heart
Psalm 27:14 Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.

Laudate Dominum. Laudate Dominum. Omnes gentes, alleluia
Psalm 117 / Romans 15:111Praise the Lord, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples!

Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus. Confitemini Domino, alleluia
1 Chronicles 16:34 "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love and His kindness go on forever."

My soul is at rest In God alone
My salvation comes from you
Psalm 62 1For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. 2He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall never be shaken.

O Christe Domine Jesu Psalm 25:
1To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 2O my God, in you I trust; do not let me be put to shame; do not let my enemies exult over me. 3Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame; let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. 4Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. 5Lead me in your truth, and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all day long. 6Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. 7Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

Stay with me, remain here with me, watch and pray
Matthew 21 v 36-46

Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom
Luke 23 v 42

My peace I leave you, my peace, I give you. Trouble not your hearts
My peace I leave you, my peace I give you. Be not afraid
John 14
27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

39 Inspirations

Really enjoyed my birthday party on the 12th December. To make it a little bit more memorable, and to help different circles of friends get to talk to one another, I played a game in which people had a sticker on their back of the 39 people who had inspired me most over my 39 years. They could ask questions of others until they were able to guess who they were.

From Steve Biko to Victor Jara, Jesus Christ to Mahatma Gandhi, it was fascinating watching people struggle to work out who they were, and hearing the stories of Helder Camara and Dorothy Day for perhaps the first time.

This was all helped along by the wonderful Cuban rum, some wonderful friends, my wife's great cake, and free Guinness at the Melting Pot Bar. A great way to start my 40th year!

Loss

When we discovered that a thief had come in and stolen our laptop last week, it took the wind out of us as a family. Unbacked up, 1000s of family photos simply disappeared, with no chance of a return. Holidays, births, treasured moments, all gone. It felt like a real bereavement - similar to the strange feeling we had earlier in the year when Clara soul mate teddy bear got left on a train.

No wonder Buddhists try to practice detachment! Attachment to things and memories can be a real problem.

The real love shown to us by others since the theft has been a real comfort - people have sent their own pictures of our beautiful children, and one friend has even helped by backing up all the remaining info and piccies we had on other computers.

Lessons have been learnt, but what I really need to do right now is to find ways of enjoying the present with my wife, family and friends, and not to rely on all that is of the past. Loss needs us to face up to what we have left.

Waltzing With Bashir

This beautiful and haunting film has just been released in the UK. A cartoon, documentary telling the story of an Israeli soldier trying to remember his part in the 1982 Israeli war in Lebanon. It is a new form of film making that deserves to be seen by a wide audience. The ending has stayed with me for many days now. See it if you can.

Mark Thomas - Don't Agonise, Organise!

It was great to have Mark Thomas here in Bradford this week. He received an honorary degree from the peace studies dept for his work on the campaign against the arms trade and for exposing the sickness at the heart of companies such as Coca Cola. He was in excellent form as he spoke to a packed audience of 200 students and lecturers prior to the ceremony. Tales of how he initially became involved in political issues during the miners strike while he studied in Wakefield, and early successes in pissing off the mighty in the dying days of the last Tory administration (like sending junk mail to Michael Heseltine in protest of the privatisation of the post office - a classic!)

The important thing was not to give up, to carry an issue forward as far as was possible - and to do it creatively. He reminded us all why direct action is so important - if we have a vote, it is because the Chartists fought for it - if women vote, it is because the suffragettes fought for it - if you can read or write, it is because people fought for it. Those with power do not give it up easily, it must be fought for.

I publicly thanked him for the inspiration he has been to the many in the audience who had been arrested partly inspired by his lead and courage and he recieved a huge round of applause. I loved the add for the event; Mark Thomas was wearing a T-Shirt that simply said - Don't Agonise, Organise!