Taize Prayer Service

The pianist, violinist, and me!

Here at Rockhurst, we have “Pasta and Prayer” every Tuesday night. Pasta and Prayer is usually a shortened (thirty minute) mass in the main chapel on campus followed by a free pasta dinner prepared and served in the Campus Ministry Center. From time to time the “prayer” part of Pasta and Prayer is changed and we do something a little different. Earlier in Lent, we had a Taize prayer service. I had never heard of such a thing until I was asked to sing at ours a few weeks ago.

In general, a Taize prayer service is one that rotates between repetitious music, silence, and simple prayer in order to create a meditative environment where participants may just sit and reflect over what has been said/ sung or what is pressing on their hearts. I think the middle of Lent was a good time for something like this because people may have been struggling with whatever they have up or may have just forgotten about what season it is and what they should be focusing on. I, personally, enjoyed the peaceful environment and the silence because silence is hard to come by these days. As Cindy Schmersal has pointed out to me just before the Silent Retreat last semester, even when our mouths are quiet, our minds and hearts may be loud.

The last thing that helped contribute to the perfect mood was the candles. On the alter there were two tables (a large one in back and a shorter one in front) and they were covered with white candles varying heights and sizes. There were also small, hand-held candles for each participant at the door. At the very end of the service, the prayer leaders lit their own candles and then started to pass the flame around so that within a couple minutes each person’s candle was lit. Then, everyone placed their candles in a bowl of sand so they could all stand together. It was a very powerful service for everyone and it was different than anything I had ever participated in. I hear that we plan on doing another service like it next year and I can’t wait to be a part of it.

Dancing With the Girl Scouts

Learning the Chinese Dance

                This weekend Theta Phi Alpha and a couple of the other sororities on campus volunteered to work at a Girl Scout camp last Saturday. The program was for girls from low-income families between the ages of seven and ten, and it provided them the opportunity to experience camp (because many of them would never get to otherwise). The focus of the camp was to teach the girls a little bit about other cultures that they may not be exposed to in their own everyday lives. The two cultures we chose for the day were Chinese and Greek.

We were split up into two groups. The first group helped about fifteen girls at a time, color their own paper flags while they taught them a bit about the culture and just chatted. I was a part of the second group; our job was to teach the girls a dance from each culture. It was a fun, new experience for me because I had not seen very much Greek or Chinese dancing, so I did not know what to expect. The moves were simple (and I’m pretty sure they were from YouTube), so we picked them up quickly. They were at just the right level for the girls.

The day was exhausting because we were on our feet the whole time, but what made it all worthwhile was getting to talk to and work with the girls. They all seemed so happy and excited to be there. I guess I expected their excitement walking into the camp, but their joy was a little confusing. I learned a bit about a few of the girls’ stories from one of the camp leaders and, honestly, it was upsetting thinking about what some of these little ones have to go through on a daily basis. It is more than have ever had to go deal with, so I couldn’t help but wonder how they could just put it all behind them and smile like that. My time with the girls remind me of how truly blessed I am. It also made me happy that I was able to share some of my blessings with them, even if it was only for a day.