This Memorial Day weekend, the brothers of Taizé, an ecumenical monastic community in France, will partner with Lakota people to host hundreds of young people, ages 18-35, for prayer and conversation at Christ Church, an Episcopal church near Red Shirt, South Dakota. The Rapid City Journal reports:
The outdoor, four-day event is part of the “pilgrimage of trust across the earth” that the Taize community began more than 30 years ago that has taken the brothers and their unique prayer around the world …
The May 24-27 gathering will include morning, noon and night prayer, with Bible study, workshops, small group sharing, meals and evening fellowship. Prayer in the Taize community is characterized by a meditatative style, simple music sung in repetition, and periods of silence to contemplate the presence of God. Like most people, Two Bulls’ first exposure to Taize was through its music. “They’re known for their music,” he said.
Taizé Pine Ridge 2013 from Rita Powell on Vimeo.
In other parts of the world, people often have an overly romanticized image of Native American people and their culture, drawn from history or films, he said. Conversely, national media coverage of Pine Ridge and other reservations often leaves the mistaken impression that life there is a story of “unremitting poverty, violence and despair.” That dichotomy is what makes the Taize Pine Ridge event so important. Young people there have another story to tell, one that avoids both extremes of idealization and hopelessness, Rev. Two Bulls believes.