ABEng.Com FCG Blog
Friday, July 20, 2007
Thank You For The Gift Of Life by Nicholas Gordon
Thank you for the gift of life,
For letting me be me,
For all that I can know by words
And all that I can see,
For all the music I can hear
And all the songs I sing,
For all the joy that comes to me
And all the joy I bring,
For all the food that I can taste
And all the sweet scents smell,
For all the loved ones I can touch,
Who love and wish me well,
For all the beauty of the world,
Ever fresh and new,
I don't know whom else I can thank,
And so I'm thanking you.
For letting me be me,
For all that I can know by words
And all that I can see,
For all the music I can hear
And all the songs I sing,
For all the joy that comes to me
And all the joy I bring,
For all the food that I can taste
And all the sweet scents smell,
For all the loved ones I can touch,
Who love and wish me well,
For all the beauty of the world,
Ever fresh and new,
I don't know whom else I can thank,
And so I'm thanking you.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Experiencing Taize, Taize Workshop 9th July 2007
It was worth my time… About three years back, I was apprehensive at first about Taize as I had just made a comeback to the Church and I was still making the transition. At that point in time I wasn’t ready for something new, however, I could not run away from it. My first exposure to Taize was during a freshmen orientation camp in which I was a facilitator. I had a very good experience and what struck me the most was the solemn and meditative nature of Taize that helped to put my focus on the presence of God. Since then, my attitude towards it changed positively.
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Last Monday, a strong crowd of about forty participants came for the Taize Prayer Workshop that was conducted by Brother Ghislain who came all the way from the town of Taize itself. He gave a brief introduction that was complemented by a 20 minutes video. Taize is a form of meditative prayer originating from the Taizé, France. Founded by the late Br. Roger Schutz (who was a protestant pastor) in 1940, the Taizé community now consists of over a hundred brothers, Catholics and Christians from various denominations coming from more than 25 nations, with its aims of ecumenism and the reconciliation between Christians and people of all nations. Following that, he went through the Taize songs and the sequence of the prayer with the participants and finally the session ended with the prayer itself...
As I sang and meditated upon the words of the songs, I began to put aside the score sheet, to allow myself to sing from the heart and soul; occasionally referring back to the scores with each new song. Is it an all powerful prayer that makes me wants to shout in praise? Well for me its not. It is more of a prayer that leaves you feeling more peaceful and with renewed spirit.
Yours truly,
Dwi
