Check out facebook for more photos

I have posted a couple of albums on facebook.  Look for Cloisters, Abbey Church, Leaving Barbque and White strand of the monks

How I spent my day off

Here is how I spent my day off.  Strolling on the Strand of the monks. 

Sunset at barbque

This is sunset last night (11:15 p.m.) on North Beach.  We were attending a leaving barbque for some of our friends that were moving on to new places

The questions we ask

I am living in an artificially established environment. I live in a house where 13; fourteen counting me, people have been brought together to live and work in community. We join another 14 from the Mac and the total Resident staff, another 14, to do the work of the Iona community on the island. Those of us working here are here for very specific time periods, residents from 1 – 3 years and volunteers 6 – 12 weeks. What that means for you as a volunteer is changes are the people who are here when you arrive, will not be the people here when you leave. It means your life here is a constant follow of people you have come to love leaving, and people you will come to love, arriving. This means a couple of things; you establish relationships quickly, you become aware of others habits rapidly, you understand the rhythms of the lives of others and you ask a lot of questions.
In addition, to the staff here on Iona, we have guests that arrive each Saturday and they depart on the following Friday. We will meet them at Saturday dinner and rush down to the ferry to say so long on the Friday. We will then spend the in between time getting ready for new guests. We are aware that when they arrive we only have five days and six nights with them, so we need to get to know them right away.
I have discovered that the questions we ask say a lot about us. Certainly we begin many of our new conversations by asking names and where you are from. We do try to make sure that if there is someone from near where a resident or volunteer is from that we make those connections for them. For example, last week there was a couple from New Zealand, so we made certain they met the two volunteers from New Zealand. This has proven to be a bit of a geography challenge, particularly for those without an appreciation for the vast expanse of the U.S. At lunch the other day someone asked a young woman from Minnesota how the oil spill was affecting her. By the same token, when the woman from Zanesville, Ohio asked me about how the oil spill was effecting me, and I shared with her the work of the church with her, she was in tears.
We are also aware of the guests schedule, so we know what activites that they are engaged in, so we can ask questions about their day specific to the events of that day. But by the time they return from the island pilgrimage on Tuesday, there is a tendency to begin asking the deeper questions. What are you looking for? Why are you here? What were you expecting? Even, how are you feeling? When guests are leaving they have a group meeting and are asked by a resident staff member three questions: What surprised you? What challenged you? When did you feel most alive?
I believe we don’t ask as many questions of those that we spend our day to day with, whether because we know the answer, or think we do, or because we assume they will tell us. What if we didn’t have to experience the regret of uncertainty and simply asked the questions that need to be asked? How much time would be gained? How much confusion and uncertainty could be eliminated simply by asking a question about what we wanted or needed to know? What if we learned the truth about a situation, rather than depending on our preconceived notions or worse misconceptions?

Porridge or corn flakes

Porridge or Corn Flakes: what kind of Christian are you?
There were two breakfast options in my home when I was growing up, corn flakes in the summer and porridge in the winter. And I don’t think it derived from that my entire childhood. Now for those of you uninitiated, porridge is not the same as oatmeal. Nor is porridge gruel, although I suppose watered down it could be. Porridge is a thick, stodgy breakfast food, and done well it has the consistency of wallpaper paste, although a bit lumpier. I absolutely love the smell of porridge cooking. It is one of those comfort things that we long for in desperate times, and I am fortunate that while I am here one of the things that I get to do in the morning is make porridge for the guests. I will not eat porridge, under absolutely any conditions. It has just too many bad associations for me.

But the other morning at breakfast the member in residence asked the question, are you porridge Christian or a corn flake Christian? And I think that is an important distinction for us to think about. A “porridge” Christian would be like the breakfast porridge, a little thick and not very responsive. It sort of clings to the bowl, even when held upside down. It does not respond well to changes. You can add all sorts of substances to porridge, but it never absorbs the other. Milk floats alongside. Raisins blend in, but are always identifiable as raisins. Sugar and syrup can be absorbed, and they do change the porridge slightly. Once porridge grows cold it cannot be used, and it does not reheat well. A “porridge” Christian would not take in new information, they would cling to what they know and not take in anything new or in addition. However, porridge is good for your heart and your digestion, but has to be taken in before it cools. It is not something that you can leave to later. Christianity has to be active; you can’t sit around and wait.

What about Christian “corn flakes?” Corn flakes really get a bad rap. So many of them have been adapted and adultered with things that make them not as healthy. But corn flakes, just corn flakes, can be a healthy grain breakfast. They are crisp and fresh. They absorb milk and take in the substances added to them. But they can absorb too much, and become mushy and shapeless. If left long enough corn flakes will become unrecognizable. As a “corn flake” Christian you take in other information, but you can take in so many different ideas that it makes you less a Christian and more of a humanist. But like the porridge Christian, the corn flake Christian has to be active, engaged and involved.

There are advantages. Porridge is generally acknowledged as a healthy food, where corn flakes are given less of a healthy reputation. Corn flakes are much simpler to bring to the table; you only have to poor them into the bowl. Porridge requires soaking, and boiling and stirring. (real porridge people don’t even consider instant). So there are advantages that each has. Perhaps to be a healthy Christian, we need to be warm and bubbly, like porridge, and receptive like corn flakes. We need to engage with others to keep ourselves fresh. And finally we need to be available and taken in by others in the world, so they can experience what God has given to us.

Maybe the answer is muesli?

Staffa

I took a boat trip with others to Staffa this week. Staffa is an island in the Inner Hebrides along the west coast of Scotland. The island is about 6 miles west/northwest of Mull and Iona. This is a regular visit of most of the guests at the Abbey. On Monday the Mac goes and on Wednesday the Abbey goes. It takes a little over an hour to reach the island, and you are given about an hour on the island. This also includes the boat bobbing around off the island to allow for photographs from the sea.
The island’s primary feature is that it is made up of basalt columns, which are five or six, sided. While on the island I had to continually remind myself that these were not manmade. The only other rock formation similar to it is the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland. There are several caves in the face of the rock, carved out by the sea. One is MacKinnon’s cave which is one of the longest sea caves in the world. Another is Boat cave, which apparently brave, very brave, sea captains can take small craft into. The most famous is Fingal’s cave which you can walk into. The National trust for Scotland maintains the island, and has established a walking path, non-skid, on the face of the cliff with a hand rail. It is a short 10 minute walk from the landing to the cave. Mendelssohn is said to have written his Hebridean overture following his visit to the cave.
From the landing if you go to up the steps you will find yourself on top of the island, looking down on the columns. Some look as if they have fallen over and are arranged like piano keys. You can hike along the top of the island for several hundred yards. The terrain is a little up and down, and if it has been raining the rocks can be slippery, but it is worthwhile because from April to July you can see puffins.
Puffins are black and white birds, with brightly colored beaks, usually orange and yellow. They live in the cliffs and feed by diving into the sea, skimming along and gathering fish. They are much smaller than you might imagine, about the size of a cardinal or blue jay. At least on Staffa, they have adapted to the human presence because humans keep the sea gulls away. Sea gulls prey on the puffins, so the humans get quite a puffin show. As we stood on the cliff, they were landing no less than 2 feet away from us, and were unafraid of the numerous camera shutters and flashes.

Day off, week one finished

Because part of my job involves providing childcare for the cook’s daughter, I have my days off set by the cook’s schedule. So I have a full day off each Wednesday and a partial day off on Friday. Wednesday is a good day off because it marks a week on the island. So it continues the rhythm of the Abbey.
Planning a day off on a small island can be a bit complicated, because work could easily draw you back in. On one hand you miss the people that you spend so much time with, but on the other you don’t want to go to the workplace. So it is a balancing act. I got up early. I admit it is a habit, but a difficult one to break when the room is as bright as midday by 5:00 a.m. I had a cup of tea or two, and did a bit of writing. Then I walked up to the Abbey for morning prayers. And then for a day off treat I walked down to the Argyll Hotel and had breakfast. What I wanted was a roll and bacon, locally called bacon booty, but instead had French toast. Very yummy. Then I went to a couple of the sessions at the Abbey. This week is a reflection on the 1910 Edinburgh Ecumenical gathering, led by Norman Shanks and Isabelle Smythe. Shanks focus on ecumenism and Smythe on interfaith interactions. Both were very interesting. Then I went back to Cul Shuna, my residence, and read a book for a wee bit.
At 1:30 p.m. I joined the guests from the Abbey and went on a boat trip to the island of Staffa. The boat was a great trawler probably about 45 feet, rated for 65 passengers, with two massive diesel engines. They take you right up to the stone face of Staffa and drop you off for an hour. There are two principle points of interest on Staffa, the puffins and Fingal’s Cave. I will write more on my visit to Staffa. On our return, realizing we would be going into the current and against the tide, I picked a strategic point on the boat, forward and behind a bulkhead. I didn’t get nearly as drenched as some of the others did.
Upon return I changed clothes and went to Martyrs bay restaurant for a fish supper, a nicely dressed haddock and chips, finished off with a nice latte. Then I went up for evening worship. The Abbey house serves tea following worship, but I walked back to Cul Shuna with another volunteer and we had a cup of tea there. So it was early to bed. Not a bad day off.
So I have completed a full week of work on Iona. There are so many different things to remember. Friday this group of guests leaves and it only seems yesterday that we welcomed them on Saturday. It seems that Sunday is a crazy hectic day. Friday is busy but not hectic. Saturday starts of slowly and builds to a crescendo. Leaving Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as normal days, and Wednesday is my day off.

Places vs. moments

On another blog page I read about thin places vs. thin moments.  If you recall, thin places are a description of where those in Celtic spirituality believe that heaven and earth meet.  They believe them to be physical places, which can be identified and visited.  One author differentiated between thin places and thin moments.  Thin moments are places in time that a real, physical presence of God is or has been felt.  Since reading about that distinction I have been pondering if there is a difference or not.

As I go on this journey, I am struck by the fact that I don’t know that I believe in “thin places.”  Or rather, that there are a distinct number of places that are thin, versus those that are not as thin.  I feel what makes the Isle of Iona a thin place is perhaps not so much the unique and ancient Christian history here, or the fact that it is so remote, but that while here you are removed from the everyday distractions that keep you from seeing, feeling, experiencing the thinness of the place you are in.  That is not to take anything away from the island, or the community, certainly not.  Indeed, it provides you the opportunity to become aware of God in the most common of places.  In the kitchen we are joined everyday by guests that help chop vegetables.  This week that has included a man from New Zealand, a young woman from Scwazcatuwan, an older woman from South England, and an 87 year old nun who taught Nelson Mandela’s children, and if you didn’t pay close attention you would miss the thin place of the kitchen. 

If you work on the assumption that the entire world is a thin place, then it is the thin moments we need to become aware of.  And often we miss thin moments because we are too busy and don’t take the time

The star of the show

An emerging specialty

You may not be aware that I am widely acknowledged as one of the leading photographers of where dolphins used to be.  Here is an image of where a seal had just been. Perhaps a new specialty is emerging?

Reflection

yes, the flowers are lovely.  But check out the reflection

Anticipation

A

Anticipation

What does it mean to live in community?

One of the purposes of the Iona Community is to practice living in community. The residents, volunteers and guests are all expected to play a significant role in the life of the community. Guests will have an assigned task that they will need to complete. Those tasks range from cleaning their bathrooms, chopping vegetables, serving meals, and picking up after meals. The volunteers and residents all have their assigned jobs, working in the shop; maintenance, kitchen or housekeeping, but you also have assigned tasks in your house. Those may be cleaning the commons area, cleaning the bathroom, straightening the kitchen, or putting away laundry. Even beyond that we are expected to pick up after ourselves and clean up any messes we create. But it is not all work, as a community we often spend time in our common rooms or the entry way (which I refer to as the warming oven), discussing a variety of topics. Some time the gathering is the girls, or the boys, or the young, or the old, and often it is a mixture of all the above. In the formal meetings that the larger Iona community requires that we attend, one of the primary issues discussed is how are we living or not living as a community. And while it is really an artificial community, we will all return to someplace else to continue our lives, it is a true microcosm of the community of our world.
For example, one of the residents of Cul Shuna, my house, gets very distressed when people don’t clean up after themselves in the kitchen. For her, nothing should take precedence over washing your plate or cup and putting them away. Many of the young people in the house will leave dishes and debris on the counter, intending to get it later, and they typically do come back and get it, but it drives this other resident crazy. She made one of the other residents, who have a knack for simply picking up anything to avoid a conflict, promise not to clean up the mess of others. This “problem” disrupted most of her evening, and ultimately mine, because she continued on and on about it. The same is true when we drop the ball and don’t do our tasks. There may be quite uproar this morning when it is discovered those on supply duty did not restock the tea caddy.
However, in reality we are all living in community. I am living in an exaggerated community, on a tiny island in the West of Scotland. But the world is our larger community. We need to be aware that what we do, or don’t do, has an impact on others. Sometimes in the short term, sometimes in the long term. As an individual, the decision of whether we use the bags provided by the market or whether we go the complicated step of bringing our own bags for our purchases, seems rather small. We would have to remember the bags. We would have to be willing to cause the disruption at our market to use our bags. But in not using the plastic bags, we decrease the number of those bags polluting our environment. Community is about loving our neighbor, in all that we do. Work on ways you can be a better member of community today.

The world in an image

There are five nations represented here watching the World Cup;  Hong Kong, Taiwan, Bulgaria, Paraguay, Zimbabwe.  Notice the person from the U.S. has other things to do. 

What good is a small stone?

If you skipped past the photo of the Abbey wall, I would ask you to go back to it and examine it for a few minutes.

This is not just any wall.  This is a photograph of a wall section in the Iona Abbey.  It was built during medieval times.  Notice the big rocks.  They are all different colors.  I am particularly drawn to the pink granite.  All those different rocks are from this island.  And all were brought together to make a wall.  Ultimately an Abbey.  If you are paying particular attention you noticed the tiny stones.  Why include that tiny stone?  What purpose could that tiny stone serve?  The tiny stone, which is no larger than a dime, gives added strength to the mortar in that area.  So the wall actually depends on the smallest stones to keep it standing. 

What a great way to build a church! What would the church be if we actually included everyone, regardless of who or what they are,  that is available?

What is there in a stone wall?

The post that follows will ask you to reflect on this wall.  It is on the southern wall of the Abbey, and was probably built in the medival age. 

Different but still the same

On Iona there are two primary centers for Iona Community, the MacLeod Centre and the Abbey.  Both are residential for guests and both provide programming although the Mac is typically geared toward a younger audience and the Abbey to a more mature adult group.  As volunteers we are either Mac attached or Abbey attached; simply meaning where you work or where you will dine. Each house has a kitchen staff and housekeeping staff made up of volunteers.  There are people assigned to maintenance and the gift shop, but they will be assigned to either the Mac or the Abbey for dining.

Beyond that the volunteers are assigned to residences at either the MacLeod Centre or Cul Shuna as a residence.  The Mac is located a few yards northwest of the Abbey and Cul Shuna is in the village.  Both houses about 15 volunteers or vollies.  So you can live in the Mac and be Abbey attached.  I am Abbey attached and am living at Cul Shuna. 

I have two jobs here, one providing childcare for the Abbey cook’s daughter and the second is helping in the kitchen.  Because of the vacation schedule of the cook, I have been working in the kitchen full time.  It’s a little like cooking for VBS; you have 60 – 70 people for a meal.  The only difference is we bake bread, scones and shortbread depending on the day of the week.  Because of the volume of food being prepared you are often working on a meal that will be consumed the next day.  Today for example, I had the 7 a.m. shift and we cooked ham, potatoes, carrots, peas and dessert pies.  We did that before going to worship, and returned to make pineapple salsa, and started the soup for the evening meal and began pulling stuff out for tomorrow.  We ate lunch with the guests at one and then cleaned up.  My shift was over at 2:30 p.m. and that was me finished for the day. 

We also have chores at our residence, although we clean the house on Tuesday evenings.  So I won’t know my chores until then.  But they can range from cleaning the bathroom to getting kitchen supplies. 

Happy Father's day

On the way home from worship last night, this wee bull was pushing on this big bull.  The grown bull was very patient with the calf.  Happy father's day!

and yes, this is on walk home from evening worship.  It is about 9:30 p.m. 

We are planning a sunset walk for summer soltice, at 10:45 p.m.  on the 21st. 

For the social studies people

The Isle of Iona is located off the West coast of Scotland. It is a very small island, only 100 people are full time, year round residents. There is a village on the island, with a couple of hotels, a pub, a gift shop, and grocers. The principle means of income seems to be tourism, largely to the Iona Abbey, followed by agriculture primarily sheep and cattle.
The Abbey was founded by Columba, in 586 when he fled Ireland. He led others to form a community and ultimately build the Abbey. Not much later there was a Nunnery founded on the island. It is believed that Iona was the entry point of Christianity to the British Isles. It is only a few miles from the Isle of Mull, a larger island with more than 200 miles of coastland. From there you can island hop to eventually end up on the primary island of Scotland and England.
Because of Iona’s location, and its completely unguarded coast it was a constant target for Viking warriors who invaded the island several times. This resulted in the deaths of all the monks and nuns on the island, and caused them to be repopulated several different times. Eventually the island full on hard times and both the Abbey and Nunnery fell on hard times. In the 30’s a minister of the Church for Scotland, George McLean, came to the island and was distressed at the condition of the buildings. He began a reconstruction and reclaimation project of the buildings. Apparently many young ministers were country born and bred, but being sent to serve in urban environments and lacked many skills. McLeod made arrangements for groups of young ministers to come to the island and to work on the buildings. The men lived in wooden huts on the ground of the Abbey. Once those grounds were restored, they built the McLean center, which remains a functional unit today.
This ministry was extended to bring young men from the urban areas of Glasgow and Edinburgh to Iona and introduce them to a new experience. Sort of a British Upward Bound. It became such a popular program that it has been extended to a center on the Isle of Mull, Camas. Ultimately those that loved the reconstructed Abbey and the ministry that it was engaged in became the Iona Community. Today the Community is responsible for the maintainence of the Maclean Centre, Camas and the programs of the Abbey. The Community consists of those that a members, associate members, resident staff and volunteer staff. The Historic Society for Scotland has taken over the maintainence and structure of the Abbey, because the cost had become too expensive for the Community.
Resident staff members work for a contracted period of time, typically three years. They manage the shop, the volunteers, the worship services, the kitchen, and the programs for various participants. Volunteer staff comes to the island to work for a specified period of time, with the minimum being six weeks and the maximum 15 weeks. Volunteers are used in the kitchen, housekeeping, shop and maintainence. The volunteer staff is selected from throughout the world. When I arrived there were volunteers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Paraguay, Sweden, Ukraine, Canada, Scotland, England and the U.S.

Photos on facebook

This link should take you to a photo album I published in facebook. You can copy it to your browser, and visit the site.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2027673&id=204900950&l=636d4b9486

A little traveling music please

Today is another traveling day.  I began with a breakfast at my hotel, and then a nice walk down George’s Street in Oban.  A cup of coffee at MacT’s, and then to the Internet café to post stuff on the blog.  But bummer of all bummers, the machine wouldn’t read my text, so only pictures were posted.  Back to the hotel, and checked out, great place.  A brief taxi ride down to the ferry and I am on my way.  Interesting.  I really haven’t heard any accents from the U.S. until today.  I have heard lots of Scots, some German, a little French, Italian, but today for the first time since the plane I heard folks from the states.  I met Deb and her little crew from Seattle Pacific University.  They are spending 10 days at Iona on a Lilly grant to examine their vocation and call.  How cool is that? 

Our ferry from Oban to Mull is quite a huge vessel, M/V Isle of Mull; I would certainly compare it to the biggest ferries in the Northwest.  And excellent accommodations, you could be outside, you could be inside, you could have lunch, or a sandwich, tea, coffee and even a wide variety of “ice cream.”  That ride was about 50 minutes.  I hopped right off that boat, and onto a coach, that was about full.  It took us to Fiohnnport, a little over an hour along the Isle of Mull.  Although it was a grey, wet day the beauty was obvious.  The sheep manage to escape the fences and several were along the roadway.  The road is one lane, with many “passing places,” places where you must pull over and wait for oncoming traffic.  There is a courtesy about it, not dictated by size.  Several times our great bus had to wait for a small car to pass.  This is particularly interesting because it became a part of the evening worship service. 

One taxi, a ferry, a coach and now another ferry.  A smaller one this time, but still able to carry vehicles, but larger than the three car ferry at the Rio Grande crossing.  This ride was only 10 minutes and oddly enough I had a few moments of anxiety.  How will I know what to do next?  Do I forge ahead?  Do I await further instructions?  I had fleeting thoughts about some of the young people I went through Missioner training with who have since traveled off to the Congo or South Africa, and here I was worrying about getting of a ferry on an island where I speak the language and essentially look like the natives.  What a dope. 

And of course there was nothing to fear.  Chris, the shepherd of volunteers was there to meet me and my four new colleagues.  We walked to our home, Cul Shuna, and had an orientation session.  Then Chris showed us all the important places we needed to know about.  It was essentially the 50 most important things about Iona, which you will have to ask someone about tomorrow, because you can’t possibly remember them today.  We then had an opportunity to unpack, and rest or wander.  The only expectation for us was to be at dinner.  But after dinner a couple of us went to the weekly staff meeting.  Tonight it was managed by Jamie, the assistant warden and the worship leader.  We explored what we understood worship to be.  I think there are at least 12 different nationalities present, and I know that the person from South America was not there. 

From there we went to worship in the Abbey.  Quite a start.  Wednesday evening worship is creative space, and the theme for tonight was “passing places.”  What would it mean for us to use passing places as a time to reflect on those around us?  To use those times patiently rather than as an interruption.  To perhaps think in terms of those being places that can become thin if we would give them the opportunity to become that. 

Places that take your breath away

Today I spent the day at places that take your breath away.  First off, breakfast at my hotel,  Rowantree hotel.  Tea, eggs and toast.  That’s traditional.  Did not eat porridge.  Will not be eating porridge, unless nothing else is available, or I have run out of emergency rations or I can’t hold out until lunch.  Porridge definitely has very bad associations.  Then off for a walk, and to discover where the tour bus departs from.  The Information Centre was named appropriately, and I was just in time for the 11:00 a.m. bus.  The tour began in Oban, went north for an hour, then out to the Isle of Siel.  We were given 30 minutes to wander about before returning to Oban.  Wilson was our tour guide and he did a splendid job, sort of a cross between a historian and a gossip columnist.  Or maybe they are the same thing. 

My caffeine intake has certainly not suffered.  I have had tea and coffee almost at every stop.  For lunch I had a bacon roll, my all time favorite, and a coffee.  Most of the coffee is dispensed from a machine, and you can order it black or white.  Black is obvious, but white is with steamed milk, so essentially it is a latte.  Hamish was the 2 year old sitting at the table next to mine, and he was quite fussy until I gave him one of my chips.  Hamish had on a knit cap, a jacket, overalls, a blanket, and no shoes or socks.  Hamish, his mum and grandmother had come down from the hills to town for the day. 

Visited the grocers today, Tesco and Farmfoods.  Tesco is my all time favorite, they have 3 aisles of produce and it all looks amazing.  There were three different colors of carrots, what a great carrot salad that would make.  They also have dog food and cereal on the same aisle.  That’s curious.  Farmfoods is an interesting grocer, all the food is frozen.  Really.  I guess that’s why it’s not called Fresh foods.

I made a list today.  Which is quite odd, because it occurred to me two days ago that I did not have a things to do list for the rest of this month and all of July.  I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have a to do list.  So this list was a “places I need to purchase stuff at” list.  It is a difficult list to make because it violates one of my father’s basic principles, “assume you will not go back, and buy it when you see it.”    

The name of this pub translates to "house of trousers."  When the English outlawed the wearing of the kilt, this pub is where the highlanders would change from their kilts to trousers before heading to town

this is the ferry that I take to Mull today

How I will spend part of Tuesday

waterfront in Oban, tide is out. The difference between low and high tide is 14 feet

Home again, but not

June 13, 2010
Being a first generation citizen of the United States definitely has its advantages. We hear and we are taught from the earliest of our days, that the U.S. is the greatest country on earth, and we are the greatest people. But as a first generation person, there is the other side of life, this constant feeling of being at home, but not quite. In a book I read for class a young Mexican American, born in the U.S., expressed it as being between two worlds. And that is exactly how I feel, between two worlds. Maybe that is why travel comes so easily to me. I spent almost 24 hours in travel, two planes, one bus, a train and a taxi, to be home again, but not quite. I understand the language, it may be English, but the inflections are very different from U.S. English. I found myself interpreting Scots English for the U.S. folks on the bus.
I missed the 820 a.m. train north, but I had expected as much. So I waited at the train station for 3 hours. How global the world has become. In the Glasgow Queen Street station, there is a WH Smith shop (general items), two coffee shops (and one is a Starbucks), a pub, a fish and chip shop and a tea shop. So I wiled away the hours by drinking tea and coffee (not at Starbucks), watching and meeting people. Most were there for only a few moments, but some were hanging out watching folk. You did have to be careful with your intake; one, the tea is blacker than most coffees, and two it cost 30p (about 75 cents) to go to the bathroom.
From Glasgow to Oban by train was a little over 3 hours, and the scenery was fabulous. There were places that it almost seemed we were in a tropical rain forest, and the path of the train was lined by ferns growing everywhere. I had the most interesting group of traveling companions. There was a family returning from holiday, they live on the Isle of Mull. There was a group of women, probably my age that had gone to Glasgow for a couple of days to do some shopping. There were many hikers and cyclists; apparently Oban is a backpacking starting point. There was a business man whose company was sending him to Oban for a few days. There was a wee man whose job it is to give away advertising papers, so he spent the journey stuffing all his papers. I saw him later handing them out on the street.
Oban is a little seaside town, quite nice. Did a wee bit of walking a bout. Enjoyed all my Scottish comfort foods; Iron Bru (think big red soda), a poke of chips, and a 99 (soft serve ice cream with a Cadbury’s flake). I did not have a fish supper, but had elegant smoked salmon on crusty French bread. Not sure which was richer, the butter on the bread or the salmon.

It's always easier when you know your neighbor

June 12, 2010
If we are expected to live by two basic commandments, Love God and Love your neighbor, and I believe that we are, then it seems to me that it is always easier to love your neighbor if you know your neighbor. I also believe that everyone is our neighbor.
I drove to Houston for my flight to Scotland, and spent the evening with my two dear friends, family, there. We are friends because of years of working and spending time together. We have become family through our years of association. We are close enough that they knew I wanted Indian food before leaving, even before I mentioned it. And this morning, homemade migas, my favorite. While I am sure that I will have great meals, and maybe even terrific breakfasts, I am fairly certain that I won’t have migas. Kat and Douglas are my friends, my family, my neighbors. And knowing them makes it easy to love them.
But seldom in our lives do we have the opportunity to spend decades building relationships. Most of our encounters probably brief, very brief. We come into contact with our neighbors in a real or virtual drive-by. And everyone is busy, and stressed, and no one has time for developing the connections that make neighbors. Maybe one of the thin places that we miss is connecting with our neighbor.
I spent four hours with a new neighbor, Maria. Maria is a Puerto Rican student studying medicine in Mexico, and in English no less. She was on her way to New York City for a fun week with friends. We talked about how much is ahead of her, how much is to come and the pressure to return home and give back what she has learned. Maria is a good Catholic girl, and we spent a few moments in prayer together, before she headed off to look for her own “thin places.” But if I hadn’t been looking for my neighbor, we may have missed one another.
Need to have my documents verified before leaving Newark. Next post from the other side of the pond.

How did this come about?

This portion of my journey begins today, with a little drive to Houston, TX. And Sunday I fly to Scotland. I will be spending six weeks on the Isle of Iona, Scotland at the Abbey. Many folks have asked how you learned about this opportunity.

Last year a couple of my friends were planning to spend a week at Iona, but it never came about. While looking over the website http://www.iona.org.uk/ I noticed that they accepted volunteers to work throughout the year. And that started my brain churning. You must apply for a volunteer position, which was an interesting process. Fortunately, through my experiences on VIM (Volunteers in Mission) teams, I have developed a wide and varied skill set. The application also required recommendations from employers and pastors, so it was a detailed application. I was very excited when the process concluded with my acceptance to work for six weeks.

One of the funniest moments came when I was told that I had to obtain a criminal background check to enable me to work around children. HA! After enduring all those questions during Safe Sanctuaries training about “why do we need to do background checks” it was a joy to learn that this was a universal precaution. And thanks to the capable assistants in our Board of Ordained Ministry office it was handled, and completed in short order.

From June 16 to July 28 I will be working as a kitchen assistant and childcare worker and I couldn’t be more pleased.

I always resented interruptions to my work until I realized that those interruptions were my real work.   Ronald Rolheiser

What is a thin place?

Searching for thin places is not the latest fad diet. It is a quest to find and explore “thin places.” The ancient Celts said that heaven and earth are only three feet apart, but in the “thin places” that distance is even smaller. Their belief was that a veil separates heaven and earth and in these “thin places” the veil is pulled away for a glimpse of the glory of God. This search is conducted using our physical senses, but also the added perspective of sensing the spiritual. And these are delicate places, you can easily hurry past them, searching requires the patience of allowing them to reveal themselves. There are those that would distinguish between “thin places” and “thin moments,” but I am not sure that I would. Too often we miss the place and the moment by not taking the time to allow for the place or the moment to reveal itself.

There are those who believe that these thin places are in ancient locations, which is fortunate for me, because in my search I will have to travel to those sites. In this blog site, I want to share those travels and revelations with you. Perhaps our day to day hurry, keeps us from finding the near “thin places”, and it is only in travel away from our daily life that we take the time to find those places.

For me, this search is largely about becoming a thin place. What if we were so drenched in the love of God, that we became a thin place? What would our world be like if our presence with others gave them a glimpse of the glory of God? And while I really am excited about the possibilities that lie ahead, my greatest excitement is how this will manifest itself in my daily world.

People usually consider walking on water or walking in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is to walk on earth.

Thich Nhat Hanh