We may be right, but it's irrelevant.

Let's talk about Taize, because such a place is worth discussing.

I wake up in the morning, in either a tent or a barrack with multiple beds (much like a hostel), and first thing, I head off to morning prayer. Prayer at Taize consists of singing a great many hymns, with the brothers that live at the community, and the rest of the current Taize congregation. We sit on the floor, and lift our voices in a variety of languages, depending on the hymn. It's one of the most serene experiences I've ever encountered, and it's really beautiful to listen to.

After prayer, we head off to breakfast. At Taize, everyone gets a job when they walk through those welcoming doors. Everyone participates in the rhythm and chores of the community, participating in creating the lifestyle in which the community lives from week to week. That being said, the job I signed up for was washing dishes for breakfast and lunch. As menial as this job sounds, washing the dishes became one of my favourite parts of the day, and definitely a task I was always looking forward to. I'll explain later. Because I was part of the dish-washing crew, I was able to be one of the first to get breakfast and lunch, which is a killer perk, let's be honest. So I leave worship, and head straight to the outdoor dining area, where I meet up with the rest of the dishwashing crew and don the oh-so-stylish plastic apron. We make sure there are enough hands to handle the load of washing that the meal will bring, and then we go through the line to secure our meal.

Taize has a vision of simplicity, among other things. While the bulk of Taize's vision I will touch on in more detail later, the aspect of simplicity hits you immediately when you partake in a meal. Coming to Taize, you can't expect to find gourmet. But Taize is a bit like camp, so even though the food isn't something normal standards would deem high quality, you're so appreciative to be eating three square meals a day that it truly does feel like you're being spoiled when they feed you. Breakfast was my favourite, especially because at the beginning of the week, breakfast and I had a love/hate relationship. Breakfast at Taize include a small baguette (roll of bread), a single serving thing of butter, and a couple sticks of chocolate, with either tea or hot chocolate to drink. What people proceed to do with this assortment of ingredients is the following: tear open bread, apply butter to the inside. Then, as if you're making a sandwich, apply chocolate between the pieces of bread, upon the butter, close pieces of bread, and eat your freshly made chocolate-butter sandwich.

I don't know about you, but this is wierd to me. Thoroughly wierd. I realize I'm in Europe and they're all about Nutella here, but Day 1, it feels too early in the day to be having chocolate. However, by Day 3 I'm hooked to the idea of having chocolate each morning, although I never converted to the "butter and chocolate sandwich" idea. But the chocolate Taize serves is beyond delicious, and I enjoyed my bread and butter with chocolate for a breakfast dessert every single morning. (That being said, the chocolate and tea ALONE is worth coming all the way to Taize. Truly, it's the best I've ever had).

Now that we're done with the meal, we get ready to start cleaning the entire community's dishes. For breakfast, this isn't so bad. Here at Taize they use bowls for the cups, and the bowl/cup for the tea or hot chocolate is the only dish utilized for breakfast. However, when lunchtime rolls around, all dishes are on deck, including trays, plates, a bowl/cup for the beverage, and a spoon as the sole utensil, utilized creatively as a spoon, a fork, and a knife. (You learn quickly when you must make use of what you have. And you're only frustrated by the solitary utensil until you consider how long it would take to clean dishes for 4000 if forks and knives were added).We get the giant vats of hot and cold water ready to receive the dirty dishes, and anywhere from 10-20 sets of hands remove jewelry and watches, and proceed to scrub down the incoming dishes. This is a monotonous task, and often perceived as menial. But when you're making new friends as you wash, and eventually start singing tunes to make the job more fun, it's not long before meeting these great people twice a day and partaking in an hour of sillyness with fellow soldiers in combat against the war of dishes becomes the favourite part of the day, and certainly a time anticipated with much joy. Truly, with the exception of one or two, I met my dearest friends from Taize while washing the dishes. I had challenging and beautiful conversations, I learned new words, and together we created memories, song lyrics, and friendships that I anticipate will last a lifetime. Speaking of which, Taize is a place that seeks to help people find the presence of God in their lives. Personally, I believe that God is available in all places, circumstances, trials, and days. Verena, one of my new friends from Bavaria, commented that in the monotony of washing dishes, a sort of meditation emerges. How beautiful a perspective, to find meditation in the midst of monotony. See what amazing and wise people I was getting to spend time with daily? I think these are the people whose company I value the most: the type of people that inspire me. Not people I always agree with, but people who inspire me and challenge me.

Between breakfast and lunch, the younger people had a bible reflection, while those of us that are older, i.e. 25 and up, had free time. I spent a great deal of this time doing one of two things: either I was in conversation and fellowship with one or more of the people I just washed the dishes with, OR I wandered down to a nearby village to spend some quiet time in prayer in their chapel. In the French countryside, Taize finds a very tranquil environment. It's impossible to hear the noise of trains and rare to hear the sounds of cars driving by, but it's common to hear the wind rustling through the grass and trees, and to hear the noises birds make as they celebrate their existence. I loved this type of silence, especially in these simple and beautiful chapels. It can be terrifying, because you can actually hear yourself think, and if you aren't ready for those thoughts, often noise is the preference. But these became some of my favourite times as well, learning not only to silence my verbal communication, but try to silence my head and my heart as well. I wonder, what does it really mean to listen? With each circumstance I admit I'm still figuring this out.

At 12:20 midday prayer happens, and again, the majority of this time is spent in song. The brothers will read some scripture, and utter some prayers, although in multiple languages, but all in all, it's a beautiful and peaceful experience, one I came to really enjoy. Then we lunch, and this repeats the breakfast process, except, as I mentioned, all dishes available are on deck, so it takes at least twice as long. But to me this only meant more laughter, songs, and times of fellowship, plus we still get to eat first. :)

After lunch, there's a longer stretch of free time, available to be filled with the "25 and up" bible reflection, in addition to some worship each evening. For a couple days I did the bible reflection, but as the week progressed I chose to spend the time in other ways, which usually consisted in conversation, fellowship, or times of prayer at my beloved chapels.

Then in the evening we had dinner, sans cleaning up dishes for Stephanie, then evening prayer, following much the same format. The prayer times usually lasted from 45 minutes to an hour, and the evening prayer could potentially go longer, but only if some people wanted to stay.

After evening prayer, there was a spot that served drinks that had a great location for people to congregate, and sometimes I'd go and join in the celebration of existence. But often prayer ended at 21:30 or 22:00 (9:30 pm or 10:00 pm), and frankly, I was tired, since we wake up at 7:45 or so to make it to morning prayer.

Besides the loose schedule, the times of peaceful prayer, and the glorious beauty of the French countryside, the appeal for me with Taize is the vision behind the community. Not only is it beautiful physically, but the beauty emanates from within. It is a community intended to welcome people from all ethnicities, backgrounds, beliefs, perspectives, histories, genders, and ages, for a week at a time, into a place where reconciliation is the aim. It it a place that aims for a Love between all people as the Lord defined it, in the unconditional sense. (The Greek word is "agape".) And so, when you arrive and live at Taize for your week or perhaps longer, you find yourself amidst a constant interaction with other cultures, languages, affiliations, and experiences. It's phenomenal. I rarely met another American while I was there, instead the people I spent most of my time with were from Hamburg, Bavaria, Slovakia, Latvia, Austria, London, France, Ireland, etc, some of which I truly hope to visit later on this summer, if possible. And as you wash dishes, engage in service of others, and share in laughter and song, you find authentic friendships developing, with no regard for whether this person's views of the world align with yours ideologically or on any other front. You find the vision of Taize coming alive in the smallest of moments, and as you put a face and friendship on the "other" you once feared or misunderstood, all you know is this: I am alive, and it is good, and you are alive, and it is good.

There once was a young woman.


Like any honest human, all this woman wanted out of life was to be loved. Not just adored, not simply cherished, but loved, seen, known, appreciated, enjoyed, and valued.


But when a person goes out into this world and begins to feel like love is out of reach, well, they'll begin to settle. And often the way one settles when in search for love is in the arms of any person that will show them even the slightest glimpse of affection.


Which is what this young woman began to do. Eventually she finds herself engaged in adultery.


But for a while this pursuit of love really worked for her, and she thought she'd really found a place where she was cherished.


Until one day she was caught. Not just caught, she was exposed, dragged into the light, and publicly humiliated.

Somehow, the public officials, government officers, and religious leaders discover her infidelity. Upon making their discovery of this woman, caught in the midst of her intimate moment, they drag her out of her privacy and into the public streets, through the dirt and the grime. 


Welcome to the climax of her shame. 


They pull this woman through the city, through the streets, up a hill, and into a crowd of people, all the while she is completely helpless to fight back, stop the embarrassment, or cover herself up at all.


Who's ever had the dream about being completely naked at school?


This day is worse.

But back to the woman.

She's being dragged, half-dressed, in her shame, through the dust. The leaders of the society that regularly play golf with her parents, the religious leaders that used to be her Sunday School teachers, the elders that once dealt so kindly with her as a child, that she's always looked up to and respected - they are now dragging her by the hair through town.

Eventually they slow down and let her fall. She drops to the ground, and for a moment she can't tell where she is or who else is around. All she can hear are the men who towed her halfway across town yelling, and as her eyes adjust to the light and she regains her vision, she notices their shouts are all directed at one man.

Suddenly they're lifting her up onto her feet, and the attempt she had made at covering herself with her hands becomes futile. As she squints in the morning sunlight, she's facing hundreds of men, and some women and children. The group of men that have dragged her and been yelling are there holding her up and surrounding her, and behind the man they continue to yell at is a crowd of people sitting down attentively.

This is really the last type of audience she wanted to have in her moment of ecstasy, in her quest for love and acceptance, which has now been transformed into a deep sense of disgrace.

As she looks out on her neighbors, her peers, her friends, her relatives, among others, she suddenly feels the pain that comes from being surrounded by people but completely and utterly alone.

Suddenly the yelling ceases, and her escorts are now speaking more understandably. They refer to the man they've been yelling at as "teacher," and she realizes it's a class that they've interrupted with her indiscretion.

They explain where they found her, how they found her, and she feels the knot develop in her stomach, because she knows what's coming...

...Then they explain that because of her crime (adultery), the punishment is death.

By stones.

They propose, to this teacher whose class they have just interrupted, that they put this woman up against a wall. 
They propose that everyone present take a rock/stone in their hand.
And they propose that everyone present precede to throw these stones at the woman up against the wall, until she dies.

Brutal.

Now let me pause here for a second. Because you should know that so far in this story, while these guys may seem like jerks, they are completely in the right.

Let me repeat that: they are absolutely right. They're justified. Validated. Not in the wrong. They win.

What they have said is not against the law, it is not false, nor is it even indecent in the sociological context.

To be fair, these guys are worried about what's best for their society, and maybe a little bit about themselves. They feel threatened, and feel allowing any indecency to occur in their midst would enable crumbling in their system, which has worked well for them for years. They're tough on the rules, because otherwise the entire structure and support everyone counts on would collapse. Who can blame someone that wants to protect what they think is best for their children and the society in which they live?

The one that's in the wrong is the woman. She cheated. Committed adultery. She is messing with the family genes and is therefore deserving of punishment. This punishment. "Stones thrown at you until you're dead" punishment.

The man they're saying all this to knows this, the rules and what's right in this situation. The poor woman can only look on, horrified, as she knows exactly what's coming for her.

The man doesn't respond immediately. Instead, he bends down and starts to write on the ground. The woman looks on anxiously, wondering if he's attempting to start class again. Maybe he didn't hear them, although she's not sure how that's possible.

Her accusers repeat her crimes, demanding the man respond.

The woman wonders if there's more to this story than her recent indiscretion - these men seem to be keen on getting an answer from this man, and she wonders why they haven't just started throwing rocks at her. What's one less arm throwing a stone going to really do to the process of a slow and painful death for her?

After they continue to question him, the man stops writing in the dust, and stands up. He turns to the men who dragged her here, who are still holding her up, who are accusing her and questioning him, and simply says that whomever has never done anything wrong should be the one to throw the first stone at this woman.

Then he drops down to ground level and takes up his writing in the sand once again.

As the men accusing and the religious leaders yelling and the audience crowding around with their stones in hand hear this, they pause. A wave of hesitation sweeps over the anxious crowd. The woman looks around, and you can almost sense everyone at once stand up slowly, as their thoughts drift back into the depths of memory. They remember their own pasts, recall their own mistakes, and shudder, as they are forced to look back at ways they too have been imperfect.

One by one, beginning with the oldest, those with the longest histories, the people leave. The woman watches on, dumbfounded, as the crowd begins to dwindle. 

Soon she is standing alone with the man who writes in the ground, the teacher, whose opinion every was so keen on hearing.

"[The man] straightened up and asked her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?'" 

"No one," she said.

"Neither do I condemn you," Jesus said. "Go now, and leave your life of sin." (John 8:1-11)

Why does he let her go? It's not that he's unaware of the law. To be clear, he's completely aware of the letter of the law. But still, he lets her indiscretion slide. Why?

Because of what He understands. He knows her search for love was fruitless, that it was settled for in all the wrong places. He knows that when a person commits adultery, or another sin of any sort, the damage they're really doing is to their heart, and there's a longing inside that isn't being filled in the way it was meant to be filled.

So instead of condemnation, which locks a person to their mistakes and failed attempts at wholeness, he offers grace, and sets her free.

She's pursuing love, so what would condemnation do? Trap her.
What does grace do? Sets her free. To find what she really needs. 

He leaves her with the command to leave the life she's been living, knowing that her heart longs to be filled, and the path she's been pursuing will not reach her desired destination. He sets her free to experience the full life she was meant to experience.

And regardless of the fact that the religious leaders and teachers and elders and men of authority were right, it was irrelevant, because there was something more important than being right.

In one of the enjoyable times of fellowship and conversation with one of the dishwashing staff at Taize, my dear friend Sona made this brilliant comment, "People have stones in their hearts, but we should give our stones to God." I don't think she realized at first how profound she'd just been. We'd been discussing Taize and the brilliance of its vision of reconciliation, and the beauty that emerges when people of all different varieties can come together to serve, to live, and to love one another. And I think to love, in the agape, Jesus-sense of the word does just that: it gives up the stones it carries, which imply both that we have something to throw, and a hardness of heart.

Taize's view of reconciliation and love is brilliant because it lets go. We drop our stones, and we pursue people instead. We pursue life for people and for ourselves, and a beautiful, fulfilled way to live it. We pursue wholeness, healing, unity, fellowship, and community.

Needing to be right can lead us to sacrifice that which is most important: the fact that there is a situation, a human, a circumstance right in front of us that needs to be loved, inspired, set free from the bondage from whence it came. We may be right at times, but it's irrelevant unless we're loving, i.e. seeking the best for someone. After all, Jesus gave us two commandments that unite them all: Love, and Love. (Matthew 22:36-40)


So, let us LOVE.

You or I may be right, but without loving someone in the process, it's irrelevant.

"If I have all abilities, all knowledge, all sacrifice, but have not love, I have nothing, and I am nothing." -1 Corinthians 13

Let go of the stones. Drop them. And let Jesus teach us about grace.

At the end of the story, notice that everyone leaves. Personally, I wish they'd stuck around, the ones with stones, the onlookers, etc. Maybe they could have learned something.

But then again, as Mother Theresa once said, "it was always between us and Him anyway."


“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” –Mark Jenkins


"Under the surface, we're all the same. Searching for purpose, running from shame..." -Wideawake

"The most effective medicine here on earth is love unconditional." -Sri Chinmoy

"And they will know you [those who know Me] by the way you Love." - Jesus to the disciples