Frank's Journal 11/29/08

Frank’s Journal 11/29/08


Crispinus led the morning prayer service. I wish I could bring back some of the musical talent in this group. At least a dozen of them are good soloists, and almost all of them sing well enough to form a pretty good choir. The format is to pray together with song, prayer, and scripture. Once again, there was no need to try to find someone to lead either prayer or song. One of them just did it.
Following the program, a workshop and small group discussion is supposed to follow the prayer service. Instead, Crispinus invited each parish to take time to plan their participation in tomorrow’s liturgy. They broke into their respective groups and choreographed the dances they would do tomorrow. It really is unbelievable to watch. They worked on a few moves, having a tremendous amount of fun in the process (what a joy it is just to watch), then put together two dances to do, one for the entrance and one for the presentation of the gospel. It really got interesting when they decided that Grandpa would do the dance with them. (American bishops pay attention; Americans, even white ones, can dance in liturgically appropriate forms. We need to loosen up!)
We arrived at Taize pretty close to being on schedule to have lunch. We ate pilau (sp?), a Kenyan dish that is primarily rice, but has meat and vegetables in it. Again, Taize stayed true to its tradition of simplicity in the meals. The afternoon prayer service was called to order with songs led by the Kenyan choir they developed on the first day of the pilgrimage. When the tent was half or two thirds full, the brothers came out to take up their positions in the center, and to bring the tone of the service to the quiet, meditative prayer of Taize. The Kenyans, however, can sing and dance, with vigor and enthusiasm, for hours, and they were just getting started. (TIA, after all.) I don’t know if the brothers were experiencing a few moments of stress, but it was obvious in the staff members from the expressions on their faces and their body language. It didn’t take long, however, and we were having a typical Taize prayer service, with prayer around the cross.
The afternoon workshop repeated the program from the previous day and as with yesterday, the most popular “workshop” was really entertainment as the groups from different parts of Kenya and other countries from Africa did dances and songs from their communities. Although the “workshop” was supposed to end at 3:30, at 4:30 they had to wrap it up so they could get dinner started. Crispinus did his usual entertaining by bringing members from various communities and countries to the group to introduce them. It dawned on me that he was not only fulfilling one of the goals of the pilgrimage, introducing people from different cultures, but he was filling a book of “contact” information from some very attractive African women.
We went back to our parishes without difficulty, and Mama Margaret regaled us yet again with a feast. Today, however, I was a little smarter and ate sparingly for lunch and supper, so I didn’t go to bed completely stuffed. You really have to experience this to appreciate what an African woman can do without a stove or a microwave. Georgina was there, although Trizza had to work a night shift, and I had fun trying to get her to say Grandpa, instead of Baba. She kept us all cracked up.
Everyone was tired and went to bed early. Tomorrow we will have to get up a little early, we have to be at the church at 9, so getting to bed early was wise.