The first two paragraphs below are from the newsletter of 15 January 2011 from the Community of Taize.


Psalm 139 (138): Few passages in the Bible speak of God’s closeness to human beings with as much subtlety and force as Psalm 139. “Lord, you have searched me and known me”, say the very first lines. God, the psalm tells us, is not a distant observer but one who looks deeply into individuals, who knows them not partially or one-sidedly but rather in the entirety of their existence, indeed as no one else can.

As the psalm unfolds, the tone becomes more pressing. “Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?” The psalmist pictures himself going high and low, and from east to west before hiding finally in darkness in order to elude God, but to no avail. God’s hand now is not only upon him, as earlier (v. 5), but holds him fast (v. 10). The realization seems all at once frightful and reassuring: there is no way to escape from God, but, at the same time, God never abandons individuals, no matter how far they stray from Him.

Let's amend that last line and bring the thought closer: God never abandons us, no matter how far we stray from Him. There's always richness and comfort and support in the notes and messages from Taize, and I've been blessed in receiving them. It's a continuing blessing to the world, too, that the horror of Brother Roger's assassination on that grim August day in 2005 hasn't blighted the influence of his life's work nor dimmed the witness of the community that he founded as a living parable of John17:21: ut unum sint.

That they may be one. Ut unum sint is also the title Pope John Paul II gave to his encyclical and exhortation on ecumenism in 1995,  reminding us that:  

At the Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church committed herself irrevocably to following the path of the ecumenical venture, thus heeding the Spirit of the Lord.

And heeding that call must be central to our journey. Even out of the terrible sufferings and persecutions that have scarred the human family in the modern world, the Holy Spirit asks for -- demands -- our renewed commitment to the cause of unity in Christ.

The courageous witness of so many martyrs of our century, including members of Churches and Ecclesial Communities not in full communion with the Catholic Church, gives new vigour to the Council's call and reminds us of our duty to listen to and put into practice its exhortation.

Taize stands as a beacon to those who hear the words of John 17:21 in humility, and following the brothers in their practice of prayer -- short, repetitive song; a reading from Scripture; long, contemplative silence -- works almost as an introduction to lectio divina and deepens our immersion in the Word. Deepens, too, our sense of fellowship with all those who bear the cross of Christ on their forehead.

Gideon Strauss, with whom I had an online connection through our blogs and who's now president of the Center for Public Justice, left a comment here a few years ago. I'd written often of hymns from various Christian traditions and several times of my deep debt to James Montgomery Boice and of the power of his preaching. Gideon, of the same Calvinist tradition as Dr. Boice, took note of some of the things that I'd entered here and left a comment, writing that I "practice a bracing ecumenicism." I was grateful for his visit and support and hope that his words remain true. And I'm grateful, certainly, for the friendship and fellowship of brothers and sisters of other faiths. Much of the good in my fumbling I owe to them, and to the witness of Taize.