IONA

Note: For both of you who have been diligently following this sabbatical blog (my mother and the one other person), you'll notice that I've given myself permission to take a bit of a break from blogging. While I'm at "home" now in the Black Hills I still feel the need to catch up a bit and say a word about my time in Iona.

An hour's train ride from Edinburgh to Glasgow. A second train ride of three hours from Glasgow to Oban. A forty-five minute ferry ride from Oban to the Isle (Island) of Mull. A bus ride of an hour and fifteen minutes from one end of the Isle of Mull (Craignure) to the other end (Fionnphort). One more fifteen minute ferry ride from the Isle of Mull to the Isle of Iona and a short walk from the beach to the Iona Abbey.

Getting to Iona is a pilgrimage. Which means that it's almost impossible not to lose yourself (if not the world) along the way.

The photo album of Iona which I posted on this blog probably tell the story of our week there better than anything. As one friend commented, "Iona was made for b&w images." George MacLeod (the contemporary founder of the Iona Community) described the island as a 'thin place' - only a 'tissue paper' separating the material from the spiritual.

We arrived at Iona on Saturday afternoon just in time for tea and coffee (the first of approximately 2,387,407 times that we had 'tea and coffee' at Iona). Saturday offered a chance to relax and arrive.

Sunday held a Eucharist (communion) service in the morning with a feast of a meal and the afternoon to bask in the Sabbath glory of the island. Sunday evening was our first session and introductions of the "Wild Goose Resource Group" (a group which collects and publishes many of the resources connected with Iona). With John Bell (leader of the "Wild Goose Resource Group" and composer of many beloved hymns, such as, "Will You Come and Follow Me") there is always singing.

Starting with Monday we fell into a little more regular schedule with morning worship at 9 AM and evening worship at 9 PM offering a frame for the day. More plenary sessions and workshops in the morning and afternoon offered opportunities to think critically and reflectively about the worship life of the church. And always, 'tea and coffee' after, before and in between everything.

Tuesday is pilgrimage day. Led by Iona staff, almost a hundred participants walked nearly the circumference of the island stopping at various places to highlight historically and spiritually significant places. We left at 10am and returned at 5pm. Leif was a true pilgrim - just going along for the ride in the backpack.

Wednesday and Thursday were similar to Monday, except that worship every night was a creative exploration of the limits and possibilities of Christian Worship. Monday nights worship was based on a service written by the Wild Goose Resource Group entitled "Fencing in God's People - 3000 years of wall building in Israel & Palestine." Tuesday night had a "Service for Prayer and Healing" (pictured here with this blog entry). Wednesday night's service was a creative exploration of the Lord's Prayer through six stations set up around and outside the sanctuary. Thursday night held a Eucharist service (communion) like I've never experienced before.

And before we knew it, the week was over. Friday morning barely had enough time for an early breakfast (with 'tea and coffee,' of course) and then the Iona "Leaving Service" so that we could make the 9 AM ferry across to catch the bus across the Isle of Mull to catch the other ferry to Oban in order to make the train from Oban to Glasgow and the other train from Glasgow to Edinburgh where we had a nice meal and sleep before we got a tax from our hotel to the airport where we caught a flight from Edinburgh to Paris and then connected with another plane that brought us from Paris to Toronto and finally we flew from Toronto to Regina, Saskatchewan where we were thrilled beyond words to see our son Elijah and take the kind of rest that only a weary pilgrim can…