Trip to the Island of Staffa

A group of us decided to take the local boat to Staffa from Iona on the first free afternoon of our pilgrimage. It was a 45 minute ride over rough waters and gusty winds.

As we approached Staffa I was truly floored by it's size and majesty. As you approach you see the detail of the basalt columns and the magnitude of them, atop the mushroom that is the land mass. As you are looking at the island you'll see the basalt black Fingals Cave.

Staffa is an island about 7 miles north of Iona and is well known for the presence of Fingal's Cave. But apart from that, Staffa is a remarkable little island. The island was once inhabited in the 1700s by as much as 16 people but nowadays seabirds and tourists have taken over their place. Staffa is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Staffa, an entirely volcanic island, is probably best known for its unique geological features.

Fingal's cave itself has a large arched entrance and is filled by the sea; however, boats cannot enter. We walked to the cave overland, where a row of fractured columns form a walkway just above high-water level permitted us exploration on foot.

Anyway, if I could say that there is only one downer about going to Staffa, this was the amount of time you get on the Island. It is literally a feast of nature and you only have 1 hour to cram as much as you can in during that time... I think I'll have to rethink this for my next visit and ensure I travel in a way that means I can stay for longer... I loved laying in the grass soaking in the sun and the wind.

Earth as a Mattress

I rest on the earth
with a mattress made of grass
I connect with the Source of all that is and has being
Wind sweeps around me
Colors of purple, emerald and blue appear under my eye lids
The flow of God runs through me
Over me
Around me
Birds sing with joy
Flowers sing with joy
I sing with joy
Gratitude for the Wild Goose!

Prayer for the Day in Iona on Pentecost Monday

Wild Spirit,
do not let us be tamed
to a life made only
of straight lines.
May we also travel
like the geese,
sharing the load
enjoying the lift,
calling encouragement:
just flying.

– from 'Still travelling' in Tell Me the Stories of Jesus by Janet Lees

Standing on Holy Ground: The First Day on the Sacred Island of Iona

After two trains, an overnight in Oban, two ferries, a bus ride, and a nice, long, uphill walk to our hotel- We reached our home for a week on the island of Iona at the St. Columba Hotel. This place emits the coming together of heaven and earth, also known as a liminal or "thin" place. Our group of 22 pilgrims met for the first time and had a glorious dinner before evening prayers and chants.

Our retreat leader, John Philip Newell, led us with prayers and music in the evening from his CD "Chanting for Peace" and new book "Praying with the Earth". The focus of the book and CD is aimed at ways we can pray for peace with phrases from the Quran, the Hebrew Scriptures, and the teachings of Jesus. This is a way of further opening our hearts to the longings for peace that are deeper than the fears and misunderstandings that divide us.

Tomorrow we celebrate the feast of Pentecost with the Iona Community before we set off for a hike to the north beach for a prayer walk. Come, Holy Spirit!

To the home of peace
to the field of love
to the land where forgiveness and right relationship meet
we look, O God, with longing for earth’s children
with compassion for the creatures
with hearts breaking for the people
and nations we love.
Open us to visions we have never known
strengthen us for self-givings we have never made
delight us with a oneness we could never have imagined
that we may truly be born of
You makers of peace.

(from Praying With the Earth by John Philip Newell)

Iona Bound: Going Back to being a Pilgrim

After a few days in Edinburgh my friend Hannah and I are about to make the journey to the sacred island of Iona where we will spend a week for the 'Pilgrimage for Change' retreat with J. Philip Newell.

Iona is one of the most venerated places in Scotland. It receives its renown as it was the base of the Irish Christian missionary St Columba, who in 563 AD landed on the island with twelve followers and settled there.

Today, Iona remains a symbol of religious change. In 1938, George MacLeod founded the Iona Community, as an ecumenical Christian community of “men and women from different walks of life and different traditions in the Christian church that is committed to seeking new ways of living the gospel of Jesus Christ in today’s world”. This community is a leading force in the present Celtic Christianity revival, which is affiliated with the Scottish Episcopal Church (part of the Anglican Communion). Though often labelled more “New Age” than “Christian”, that is of course largely what Celtic Christianity was: it took the existing Celtic tradition, and substituted the names of the old gods with a new name, Jesus. But it left all the old attributes of the ancient gods in place. Celtic Christianity was merely an adaptation of the local beliefs, not a break with the old beliefs. In fact, in the first few centuries of the Christian era, this was exactly the official policy missionaries were invited to use and it is one of the main reasons why so many “pagan” elements can be found in the Christian calendar and rituals.

That today Iona is peacefully reverting to the olden ways, may be a sign of a socio-religious experiment that can only succeed on an island… or a sign of things to come.

Each day on Iona will begin and end with the rhythm of prayer and meditation together, either at the Abbey or elsewhere on the island. In the mornings John Philip will teach on themes related to the oneness of the human soul and the healing of creation, asking what sacrifices we are to make in our lives as individuals, as nations, and as a species, if we and the world are to be well. The afternoons will be given to hiking, conversation, and rest, and in the early evenings his wife Ali will lead us in embodiment practices of chant and meditative movement and further reflection on the way of transformation in our world. On at least one of the days we will walk the seven-mile island pilgrimage route together to reflect on the journey of our lives and universe. Wholesome breakfasts and evening meals, with provision from the organic gardens of the hotel, are an important part of our community life together.

Our leader and one of my favorite writers, John Philip Newell, is a poet, a scholar and a teacher. Formerly Warden of Iona Abbey in the Western Isles of Scotland, he is currently Companion Theologian for the American Spirituality Centre of Casa del Sol in the high desert of New Mexico. He is internationally acclaimed for his work in the field of Celtic spirituality, including his best known titles Listening for the Heartbeat of God and Christ of the Celts, as well as his poetic book of prayer Sounds of the Eternal. He is a Church of Scotland minister with a passion for peace in the world and a fresh vision for harmony between the great spiritual traditions of humanity.

It is not easy to get to Iona. We will take two trains, have an over night in Oban, take two ferries and one bus in order to reach this holy site.

Since being away from my last pilgrimage group in France I have been a little bit unsettled being a tourist in Scotland. I am ready to return to pilgrim mode!

You keep us waiting.
You, the God of all time,
Want us to wait for the right time in which to discover
Who we are, where we must go,
Who will be with us, and what we must do.
So, thank you…for the waiting time.

You keep us looking.
You, the God of all space,
Want us to look in the right and wrong places for signs of hope,
For people who are hopeless,
For visions of a better world that will appear among the disappointments of the world we know.
So, thank you…for the looking time.

You keep us loving.
You, the God whose name is love,
Want us to be like you –
To love the loveless and the unlovely and the unlovable;
To love without jealousy or design or threat,
And most difficult of all, to love ourselves.
So, thank you…for the loving time.

And in all this you keep us,
Through hard questions with no easy answers;
Through failing where we hoped to succeed and making an impact when we felt useless;
Through the patience and the dreams and the love of others;
And through Jesus Christ and his Spirit, you keep us.

(Prayer of the Iona Community in Scotland)

Experience The Wild Goose

Aléynu L’shabéy’ah: It is Ours to Praise

Text by Marcia Falk, Tune by Ana Hernandez

It is ours to praise the beauty of the world, even as we discern the torn world. For nothing is whole that is not first rent, and out of the torn, we make whole again. May we live with promise in creation’s lap, redemption budding in our hands.

This is the song that I have listened to over and over again. It has truly helped channel the Wild Goose (Celtic description of the Holy Spirit). I highly recommend purchasing my friend Ana's CD, Eternal Spirit, online and listen to it daily. It can bring you to new places like it did for me walking the Labyrinth in Chartres Cathedral. Ana will be at St Aidan's on August 6 and 7 while I am away on Sabbatical.

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

Holy Walking: Experincing the Labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral

"Your life is a sacred journey. And it is about change, growth, discovery, movement, transformation, continuously expanding your vision of what is possible, stretching your soul, learning to see clearly and deeply, listening to your intuition, taking courageous challenges at every step along the way. You are on the path... exactly where you are meant to be right now... And from here, you can only go forward, shaping your life story into a magnificent tale of triumph, of healing of courage, of beauty, of wisdom, of power, of dignity, and of love." - Caroline Adams

We are all on the path... exactly where we need to be. The labyrinth is a model of that path.
A labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path. The Labyrinth represents a journey to our own center and back again out into the world. Labyrinths have long been used as meditation and prayer tools.

The labyrinth at Chartres was built around 1200 and is laid into the floor in a style sometimes referred to as a pavement maze. The original center piece has been removed and other areas of the labyrinth have been restored.

In walking the Chartres style labyrinth the walker meanders through each of the four quadrants several times before reaching the goal. An expectancy is created as to when the center will be reached. At the center is a rosette design which has a rich symbolic value including that of enlightenment. The four arms of the cross are readily visible and provide significant Christian symbolism.

Before walking the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral I meditate at the high altar for 15 minutes. I kneel before the altar at the crossing of this ancient place of worship with my hands in orans position, outstretched. My hands become warm. I feel comfort, a sense of floating, feeling an energy pushing me back and forth almost causing me to fall over. In this almost dizzy state I walk towards the labyrinth and walk around it twice in a counter clockwise direction before entering the sacred pathway.

At the start of the walk I begin to feel tension, worry about what sort of revelation will come to me. The first thing I do as I walk and pray is to unlock my jaw which is tight. I try to empty my head in order to be free of clutter. I shut my eyes as I walk only keeping them open a little bit so I can just barely see the path before me. As I walk closer to the center I once again feel comfort. I enter the center and five people are surrounding me in prayer as they stand in the rosette. I then join the others in the design. We stand in silence basking in the light and energy which is the presence of the Holy. After holy silence, each person surrounding the center enters the center one by one as we seem to pray for one another. We all seem connected even though we do not know one another. A deep sense of peace enters me and I begin to feel recharged. As I depart the center and walk the same pathway out I feel a cool breeze blow by me. I feel lighter. I begin to smile and am overcome with a holy giggle. Joy, peace, and laughter overcome me as I exit.

I had no major revelation walking and praying the Labyrinth, but I experienced the unconditional love of Christ. I felt the Holy Spirit enter my soul. I felt the peace that passes all understanding AND that is ENOUGH! Merci Merci Merci......

Gliding along the winding path
in a circle of safety
releasing my grip on my cares
and opening up inside,
dilated at the center of my soul. . .
not a hole,
a vessel
a place of silence
a vacancy reserved for God
for spiritual communion,
an inner sanctuary
purified by the consuming fire
of the Holy Spirit
and what is left there. . .
etched in the center of my soul,
is:
"I am with you, there is nothing to fear"