Lent 2026: Abiding

There is something soothing about simple, repetitive actions: A gentle sway rocks a baby to sleep. Pacing back and forth can calm anxiety or steady frayed nerves. Slow, deep breathing can centre the mind.

Music can do the same thing. I have written about Taizé before, and often talk about music, but here I go again.

There is a simple beauty in a Taizé chant. The melody is uncomplicated, the words repeated again and again. Yet that repetition is not empty. Instead of rushing us on to the next verse or the next idea, it allows us to stay in one place and go deeper. Slowly, gently, the singer moves beyond simply saying the words and begins to abide within them.
It becomes a way of drawing closer to God.

I am not currently in Taizé, although my heart wishes it was. Last time I was there I bought a small book of chants, and there is one in particular that I return to as a personal prayer. It is a German chant based on a prayer by St Nicholas of Flüe:

Nimm alles von mir, was mich fernhält von dir.
Gib alles mir, was mich hinführt zu dir.
Lebendiger Gott, nimm mich mir
und gib mich ganz zu eigen dir.

Take everything from me that keeps me from you.
Give everything to me that brings me nearer to you.
Living God, take me away from myself
and give me completely to you.

It is a prayer of surrender.
A prayer of trust.
A prayer of offering.
And it is beautiful.

I keep coming back to this chant because, deep down, this is what I desire most. To let go of the distractions and hindrances that clutter my life, and to draw closer to God.

When I sing these words, it is humbling. Because I cannot do this on my own. Things get in the way. Sometimes it is simple distraction: television, books, the endless pull of everyday busyness. Sometimes it is something heavier: resentment, frustration, or the quiet weight of things that sit unresolved in the heart. Day to day life offers plenty of obstacles.

This chant turns that struggle into prayer. It becomes a gentle admission that I need help, and a longing for deeper relationship with God. It is both a comfort and a challenge. As the words are sung again and again, something in me softens. My heart opens a little more. And in that quiet repetition I begin to find a deep and steady peace.

I do not know what helps you connect with God. But if you have never tried it, perhaps listen to this Taizé chant and simply sit with it for a while. Let the prayer carry you.

Sometimes the simplest words can take us the deepest.