Frank's journal 11/30/08

Today the significance and scope of what the Taize community did in Nairobi struck me, to use a cliché, like a bolt of lightning.
This morning, we gathered in our host parishes to celebrate mass with them, to thank them for their hospitality, and to praise the God that brought them together. There were representatives of Uganda and Tanzania there, but the vast majority of them were Kenyan. Most significantly, many of the youth from Kenya were Luo, one of the tribes most involved in the post-election violence of a year ago. The area where we were staying was almost exclusively Kikuyu, the tribe that was fighting with the Luu. Just 12 months ago, our youth from Bomu (as well as many of us at St. Stephen’s) were praying for God’s protection for their church and its members – the priests and many of the parishioners at Bomu were Luu and the Kikuyu in Mombassa were threatening to burn down the church and attack its members. The feelings of animosity, distrust, and fear are still just below the surface. There were atrocities on both sides.
After mass, we said good-bye to our host families. There was a lot of hugging, some tears, and lots of exchanges of “contact” information. The affection developed between the host families and their guests was tangible. Nobody wanted to actually go, so they started moving into small groups, discussing and processing the experience. The small group I gathered with, half participants and half hosts (all of whom were also participants), sat together in the shade and asked each other two questions: what did I get from Taize and what did I get from the experience of living with another family. When they talked about Taize, they were fuzzy. Everyone was positive, and all took something from praying with the brothers, but it was difficult for them to articulate just what it was about Taize that was edifying to them. But what dominated the conversation was the effect of living with a family from another part of the state, and another tribe.
I wish I had the talent to be able to convey the love that these young people were sharing with each other. Luu were living with Kikuyu. Kikuyu were treating Luu as privileged members of their own families. These are very small houses, and everything one does or says is known by everyone else in the house. Thomas, the chairman of the Bomu youth group, said it best. He said he came here with a great deal of fear. These Kikuyu people were violent people, and he was afraid to trust them. Today he had a very emotional separation from his Kikuyu family, who told him expressly that they wanted him to return and to live with them when he does. He offered the same hospitality to them, asking them to come visit Mombassa, to stay with him and his family. Two families had become joined, with strong and deeply felt bonds of love.
This weekend a flower of hope blossomed in Kenya. I don’t know if the Taize brothers planned this, or if this was an intended result. Maybe they just did as they were led by the Holy Spirit and trusted to God for the results. Whichever, the result was a beautiful flower that is one step in the process of healing a nation.
I suspect that once I get back home I am going to open my email to a blizzard of new emails. I have given my email address to about a hundred Kenyans, Ugandans, Tanzanians, Sudanese, and others.