Monday, May 16, 2016


Notes from Iona


The "harbor" at Iona
After five days in Edinburgh, we finally arrived with our good friends John and Mackie Rice at Iona, where we wandered, sat, talked to some of the one hundred or so locals, and began dreaming of leading a pilgrimage of folks from St. Aidan's and the Center for Spiritual Deepening.  We were told by a wise friend that if we came to this magical place we would return more than once and I hope that is true.  

We arrived by ferry after a harrowing (for this driver) 40 mile trip across the isle of Mull on a single track road.  That drive added to the joy of walking up the ramp into the little village after the short crossing from Mull.


The church that dominates the sky line in the village is a twelfth century Benedictine chapel built where Columba's abbey was situated in the sixth century.  Not much remains of the original structures.  A small stone chapel near the church is believed to be Columba's burial place.  Worship is led at least twice a day in the chapel by members of the Iona Community, an ecumenical religious community that does a lot of work with the poor and struggling in Glasgow and that leads retreats on Iona for people from all over the world.  On Tuesday evening as we set out for the 9 pm service, it seemed like half the village was making its way to the chapel in a silent, growing procession that led us into the church where we were met by candles and gentle music, much like 5:30 at St. Aidan's. 



One of the remaining structures from those earliest pilgrims to Iona is the base of a hermit's cell, which is a thirty minute walk from the village.  For Mary and me, it was a thirty minute walk to the hermit's cell and a two hour walk back.  You can expect a sermon about the dangers of thinking you can find a short cut in strange country, the benefits of getting lost in the bogs on Iona and the adventures of climbing barbed wire fences.


Much of Iona looks like this.  The end of the island you see is about two miles from the high vantage point where this picture was taken.  The whole island is three miles long and a mile and a half wide.


Only the few residents who live in the island are allowed to have cars but traffic jams can still be a problem.


This is the oldest high cross on the island.  It stands beside the abbey chapel and is 1200 years old.  It was erected less than two hundred years after Aidan set out from Iona to do his missionary work in northern England.


Iona is indeed a "thin" place whose scenery and pace can gentle a pilgrim into graced moments of gratitude.  Columba and Aidan came to Iona to find themselves by trusting their lives into God's care.  This holy island still attracts many who come for those same reasons.  I look forward to returning and learning to draw on the gifts that pilgrims have always found on Iona: silence, surrender, belonging, call, challenge, community, grounding.........the list will grow, I am sure.  I am, for now, a grateful pilgrim--grateful for this place and grateful for my community that allows it's priest to wander off in search of renewal.  I'll see you in a few weeks.  
Blessings

John



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