A couple of years ago I read an ad for a Taize Worship Weekend in a magazine called Spirituality and Health. It was being held in Des Moines, New Mexico. New Mexico is just the next state over from AZ...couldn't be that difficult of a trip. You'd think after living in the southwest all these years, I would know better. Getting from here to there is anything but easy. No matter where "here" or "there" is.
As with all of my great ideas, I immediately began working to get my two traveling companions on board with this plan. Sara, my daughter, and Cyndi, my best friend, and I have traveled together coast to coast having experiences that we'll most likely never forget. This could be another one of those times. Sara would be on spring break from ASU, and hopefully Cyndi would be available.
We did go to Des Moines, pronounced "dez-moinz" because they don't want to be confused with the other one. No fear of that. This little NM town is in the far northeastern part of the state almost in TX. We flew into Amarillo, rented a car and drove across the flatest land I've ever seen in my entire life. How could a retreat center pictured in the magazine on green rolling hills be anywhere around here? Fortunately Sara fell asleep after about the first hour. Sara had had her heart set on Maui, and I had convinced her that this would be even better. I was starting to sweat. I didn't really know all that much about Taize. I had heard a few songs that I liked. But this was definitely not looking good.
While following trucks full of cattle a little too close and finding out that the windshield fluid tank was empty (can you spell gross!!), we looked at miles and miles of absolutely nothing, no houses, no people, just flattened dirt sometimes covered
with knee high grass. After a couple of hours we could see a slight elevation but hardly what I would call a mountain. As we got closer we saw that it was just on the other side of a small town, a very small town. The downtown area consisted of a 2-pump gas station and about six buildings that must have been stores at one time, but were deserted now. All I kept thinking was where in the world do these people buy groceries....As we approached the little hill, it took on a greenish tint, ah, vegetation...what a relief. Along the road was a small sign showing us that we had indeed found the Mandala Retreat Center. As we pulled up the winding dirt road, Sara woke up. For now, she had missed downtown Des Moines. However, she did comment on what she thought it looked like was on the windshield....
As we pulled into the parking lot we were completely blown away by the beauty of the facility and grounds. It looked nothing like what we had been driving through the past hours. We were shown to a wonderful little two bedroom lodge, unpacked our bags and went back to the main building. Any description I could give would be sorely lacking. Check it out yourself at http://www.mandalacenter.org/.
The weekend proved to be such an incredible experience...worship, silence, laughter, fantastic food, gorgeous surroundings. And an introduction to Taize that started the love affair.
So now during Lent on Wednesdays evenings we are worshipping in the style of the community of Taize, France. This lay-led worship is so powerful on many different levels. The music, of course, the candles, the prayers, but most of all our ability to connect with the Holy Spirit and each other. Being so thankful of yet another nudge that we paid attention to.
If you think you might want to have a Taize worship service, but don't know where to start; either visit St. Anthony on the Desert in Scottsdale on a Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. during this Lent or contact me for an easy way to start.
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