Those who read my blog regularly when published may have noticed that I sit down to write this already more than twelve hours after the time I usually publish my weekly post. Although never pleasant to feel behind on one’s plans, it is probably consciousness that I am late with this that set me to humming ‘Wait for the Lord’ – one of the chants of the Taizé community, an ecumenical community in France.

While I am most certainly not the Lord, if you have been waiting for me then I apologise again for my tardiness, but had I not been late I would probably have written a longer and denser post about something less accessible, so maybe there is yet worth to be found in this less usual approach.

‘Wait for the Lord, his day is near
Wait for the Lord, be strong, take heart’

The very simplicity of a chant, reinforced as well as confounded by the power its repetition can have, is part of its theological import. The text is scriptural, but focussed. The verses which can be used with it also from scripture reinforce the Advent message of the coming day of the Lord, but there is no restriction in this style of worship to season, and I think it no harm that I have had this short chant repeated in the silence of my own head for much of the day – in the midst of a busy day a reminder that the Lord is near cannot go amiss.

The versatility of Taizé chants is also part of their charm: they are inherently meditative and reflective, but they also engage intercession and build community in worship. Augustine gave us the thought bis orat qui cantat; Taizé allows this multiplication of prayer in a way which is at once distinctive and generous: for that I, at least, thank them.