Things I have become known for

We each carry with us a certain set of skills. Paul outlines that clearly in his New Testament texts, and as you might imagine he even suggests ones that we may want to pray for.  One of the real attractions for me going to different places is not only developing new skill sets, such as making a mango, orange, cranberry compote from scratch (without a receipe), but being known for skills that I might not otherwise be able to develop.   Here are the things that I have become known for during this time on Iona: 1.  My green book.  I carried a little green notebook with me while on Iona.  It was essentially my day planner while away.  It slid easily into my pocket, wasn't bulky, and had plenty of space for jotting down information such as ideas that came to me, hymns that we sang, people's names and email addresses, and most importantly social engagements.  Since my social life on Iona far outstrips my social life in the real world, it was a critcally important part of my life.  To the extent, my friends would say "did you make a note of that in the green book?" or "Put that in your green book and you can remind me" or my personal favorite, "look that up in the green book and see when that happened."(sadly enough I was able to do so). 2.  Little camera with the freakishly amazing zoom.  I have a lovely little Canon which also fits into my pocket (next to the green book, and I was working in scrub pants with the little side pocket).  I carried it with me everywhere.  And while small, it does have a great 14x optical zoom, and a 56x digital zoom.  One of my friends began to use me and my freakish camera as a telescope, calling me out of the kitchen to zoom in on something across the field to discover what it was (goose and her gosslings).   3.  Images of everything and anything.  Yes, when you have a compact camera that goes everywhere with a freakishly amazing zoom, you can have images of everything. I took images of boats that were so far away we couldn't make out what they were.  I have images of people from a fairly significant distance, but honored their privacy by not taking them in compromising positions (and actually telling them I had the image).  I have an entire collection of images from the kitchen, in case anyone ever wants to know what 1 kg of butter or oats looks like.  In fact, the only image I don't have is a friend making me an offer that was easily refused because he was wearing blue rubber gloves (someone else captured that image). I have an incredible collection of sunset and sunrise images, taken from a variety of locations on the island.  I have full moon images from July and August over the sound, but sadly enough could not capture the rise of the waning gibbous moon a couple of nights ago (just not enough light).   4.  Reading the Bible.  Yeah, I know that sounds lame, but I purchased a new Common English Bible prior to coming here, and decided to follow the Read your Bible in 90 days plan.  Actually, it is about 60 days because I want to read it while I am in Scotland.  Well, two things emerged; one, people became really interested in the plan and wanted to participate, and two, people became really interested in the Bible.  But not for the deep theological reason that you might conclude, no, it was because the Common English Bible is a plain text Bible.  And frequently, I would shout "Listen to this," and then read a text passage.  Some were so outrageous that my roommates would scatter for the other Bible in the room, to see what other translations and interpretations said.  Trust me, no interpretation needed, the Bible has some pretty strange stuff going on.   While some of that may have no practicality when I return to the "real world" some are things I can take pride in, some I can rejoice in and all I can share.   This becomes a thin place.  

What does it mean to be in the real world?

A frequent question asked on Iona when your leaving date approaches is, what will you return to in the real world?  Which naturally leads to a discussion of what is the real world.  And why does it seem that the real world is anywhere other than where you are?  So upon leaving Iona I am taking a couple days holiday and traveling to Fort William, where I will receive a bit of reintroduction to the real world. So far the principle differences seem to be television, people that you don't recognize, keys, sleeping in a room for one, traffic and the noise that accompanies it.  And oddly enough I have found each comforting in their own odd way.   I am not much of a television fan, but I spent the better part of an hour just staring at the many images on the screen while I continuously changed the channels.  I spent two hours sitting out on the beautifully groomed terrace of my bed and breakfast listening and watching to the cojoined activities of the steady stream of traffic and the steady gurgle of the stream nearby.  In my walking about the town I was stunned to not recognize anyone since on Iona you typically know all the people, and can distinguish day trippers from those lodging on the island. It must admit that it was strange to sleep in a room occupied by only myself.  No caphony of snores to join to mine.   But none of that has been quite as entertaining as my readjusting to keys. How many times will I lock myself out of my room because I have forgotten my key?  Answer: often enough that the young woman at reception just offers to left me in my room on the assumption that I have yet again left my key in the room.   But in the real world, like Iona, we need to recognize God in all the variety of forms in which God may appear.  As I discovered in India, one of the forms in which God appears for me is hot and cold pressurized water.  And while that is somewhat tongue in cheek, more and more I am coming to realize that the thin places we may seek, that I am seeking, are the places where we are most often.  It is the real world that blinds us to God's activity in those places.   So I am going to continue to seek out thin places, those places where the veil between heaven and earth is pulled back, but I am extending that search into the real, day to day world, seeking what God is up to in our midst.  Watch for thin places.  

All of this must go in there

     I can shop.  Very well.  I was trained pretty much from birth.  I have expensive tastes, and the patience to pursue those tastes in thrift and charity shops.  Clearly the dilemma before me is, ALL of this must go in there.  Everything that I have amassed in eight weeks has to fit into by duffle, and still remain under 50 pounds (35 kg).  Because I am an experienced and well trained traveller, I do have an empty bag in my duffle, which can be filled should the situation arise, however, that will incur baggage fees.

     The solution?  Leave it behind.  Now it will also be no surprise that I had planned to do that very thing. There are clothes that came with me that I intended to leave here on Iona.  That is actually very common, in fact, in my living area we have an entire closet (cupboard) devoted to left behind clothing.  It is called the Vollie (volunteer) cupboard, and it contains all the left behind clothing.  Volunteers have either intentionally or accidentally left behind clothing which remains in the closet until claimed by those that follow.  I have claimed two t-shirts, one long and one short sleeved.  At the end of the season they will actually be put in a jumble (garage) sale, as a fund raiser.  So to make room for my purchases, and collections, I will leave behind trousers and t-shirts for the Vollie cupboard.

     Books will not be making up weight in my bag; I have only purchased 2 books, but am bringing back 3.  A friend of mine who was here earlier in the season bartered for a book, and I am the carrier of the trade.  I do, of course, have a frighteningly large collection of glass and pottery which will have to go somewhere, and that trade off may be my boots.  While new when I arrived, they are well worn now.  I have walked about 7 miles a day, and have developed a split in the toe of one of the boots, allowing both water and wee stones in.

What can't go in the duffle, but that which I must carry on my own is how I have come to love these people?  How in such a short time, some as long as 8 weeks others as short as one, do people come to be so close to your heart?  Through shared experiences, both humorous and sad, through shared life of what we may or may not want to eat, and through shared living, of who may or may not be snoring, these dear people have grown into my heart and reshaped me -- yet again.

     It is truly a thin place.

Chasing the wild goose (An Geadh Glas

      The Celtic image of the Holy Spirit is that of a wild goose.  No docile white dove for them, the noisy boisterous spirit of the wild goose captures their understanding of the Holy Spirit.  While the spirit may comfort us, it is also meant to disturb us, not to allow us to become to settled or comfortable in one spot.   Wild geese are at once beautiful and distressing.  They are noisy and call attention to themselves, often to their own peril, and on the other hand they are graceful in flight and powerful in their scope and prowess.

The publishing and resource arm of the Iona Community is call Wild Goose publishing.  Last week they had a gathering at the centres working with others on worship and liturgical resources.  And the intensity of their work and sessions was punctuated by the sudden and unexpected arrival of a gaggle of wild geese on the island.  They have literally honked their way into our hearts.  So on Wild Goose Resource  Group week, wild geese showed up with the spirit.  

      Amazing what the spirit is up to.  

Not simply enough to be leaving

     So you live in a place for two months, sharing virtually everything from living space to germs, and the time comes that you must move on to the next place.  It is not enough that you pack it all in and depart, you have created relationships, some of the younger ones serious relationships, and you must deal with those relationships.  Some deal with it by not dealing with it.  They slip off on the early ferry hoping against hope that no one will come by (not certain if it is an emotional thing, or they simply can't bear the thought of the embarrassing display of affection at the goodbyes.  I will not reveal what that is; you must come and experience it for yourself.  Some deal with it by getting all caught up in the emotion, in the goodbye, in the terminal status that this creates.  The leaving becomes the important part.  Some deal with it by focusing on what comes next; how you move on from this small piece of life to the next piece of life.  We make inquiries about what lies beyond Iona, and how soon you will make the plunge into the real world outside these tiny shores and sparkling waters.  Some have huge plans that carry them to other far flung places, but not quite as remote, before emerging in reality. Others, like me, will take a couple of days to renter society (let's face it, I have not dealt with keys or people I don't spend all my nights and days with in some time) and then plunge headlong into reality.

     But the big reality is that our time here on this tiny remote beautiful island is as real as it gets.  All of life is compressed into a week’s time frame; you meet strangers who will be close friends, perhaps companions by Tuesday, who you will have to say goodbye to on Friday morning. Chances are you will never see them again. So the larger aspect of reality is how has this effected/affected who you are in your real reality?  How can you live the words we offer each morning in worship? We will seek peace and pursue it.  We will not offer to God offerings which cost us nothing.  It is not simply that we are leaving, but are we leaving with sufficient change to impact in God like and significant ways the world that we will be living in.

That can become a thin place.

Caffeine addiction

     As you are aware I have a serious caffeine addiction. The other morning I had a particularly early start, so I began the day simultaneously having a cup of tea and coffee. Here on Iona we serve instant coffee, and as icky as that may sound, when in desperate circumstances you will drink anything for a fix.  

One of the young Englishman here uses a phrase that I intend to adopt -- proper coffee.  It is amazing the lengths you would go for a proper coffee.

The languages we speak

     One of the requirements of volunteering here is that you must be able to speak conversational English. So there are volunteers here from Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Finland, Czech Republic, Sweden, England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland and the U.S.

     As you might expect you must speak a bit more deliberately and clearly with those with whom English is not a first language.  Although most that come literally come to have a place to practice their English, they are pleased to have others to speak in their first language.  Often we get into discussions of how words are used, and as what part of speech a word may be used.  Literally one day we were diagramming sentences on a white board, a skill that I thought would be as useful as algebra.  My favourite is the simple, descriptive phrases they use, for example one of my colleagues had witnessed a bit of a confrontation between two people, and said  “there was a bit of hot air between them."  Not how I may have said it, but spot on accurate.  Yesterday I took a bit of a spill in the kitchen, and ungraciously landed on my butt.  My friend asked "Are you alright or do I need to hold you?"  Not actually the correct phrase, but the sentiment was appreciated.  

     Interestingly enough there seems to be as much difficulty in understanding the various forms of accents among those whose first language is English.  The Scots words and accents from Glasgow and Aberdeen are particularly difficult for those unaccustomed to them in conversation.  One morning a friend said he was going to pop out for a quick fag, and the third person in the room was aghast.  "What did he say?" she asked.  While initially I was going to answer flippantly, I suddenly realized she had understood what he said; she did not understand what he meant.  "He's going to have a cigarette,” I responded.  So I have become a translator from English to English. My skills are not always needed, so I have to wait for sudden awkward pauses in conversations, and that is my cue that the hearer did not comprehend what the other English speaker has said.

      It has become a funny thin place.

Busy business of welcoming friends

     Much of the past several days have been in preparation for the welcoming of the members of the Iona Community.  For as often as we say goodbye, we say hello with the same frequency, but for the past couple of weeks it has been saying hello to old friends.  Last week was the worship resource group of the community here to work on different ways of worshipping together. Many of the people that attend that week have been here previously.  This week we welcome the people who have committed, or are in the process of committing themselves to the life and work of the community in the world.  So these are people that visit perhaps even more than once a year. It has a bit of the feel of our Annual or General Conference gatherings, although they don't seem to have the same governmental agenda we have.  But clearly this is a time when they come together after a lengthy separation, and include a time of introductions so each will know precisely who are in attendance.  If we had only sung "And are we yet alive," it may have seemed like home.  The theme of the week is "Gender Justice" and the workshops of the week will focus upon discussions in that area.

     They even have a special celebration, welcoming people who have newly committed to the ideals of the community, and of course, that celebration must include food.  So the two kitchens have worked for three or four days towards a huge luncheon, which was served across two centres.  Imagine having your main course in one place and walking (hiking) up the road for the dessert course.  Although the kitchen I work in was in the "dessert" centre, each kitchen worked on both courses, so there was much ferrying of food and serving utensils back and forth.  So it amounted to a very, busy and long day, but punctuated with the fun and hospitable nature of feeding and caring for others.  More than once through the day I was reminded of Jesus' feeding of the 5000 (we only served a little over 200), and how that worked not only because of the miracle of Jesus, but the preparation someone had gone into to pack a little child's lunch.

     This was a thin place.

Saying goodbye

   There are good byes and then there are goodbyes.  Today there were some of each.  A couple of good friends left the island today, one whom I had just met eight weeks ago, and the other who I met here two years ago.  I frequently worked with one, and shared sleeping quarters with the other.  One I am fairly certain I will see again, and the other is far more unlikely, yet possible.  We say good bye often on Iona.  Each Friday the guests that we have spent the week with say farewell.  This is occasionally difficult, because you really get to know people over the course of a week.  Sometimes it is very painful, as was the case of a five year old guest who was quite taken with one of the housekeepers.  He was heartbroken at the pending loss of their friendship. Sometimes it is a gift to see them go. On Wednesdays we say goodbye to our colleagues.  Early in the season this is less difficult, because you don't know the people very well, but as your time in service grows longer, so do the goodbyes.  This morning was a goodbye based at least on seven weeks.  

   It is a little slice of life, compressed into tiny week size packages.  Life is always about hellos and goodbyes.  And just like most of life here on Iona, it is exaggerated by the beauty of the place, the colors of the sky, the glistening of spirit that seems to drip from everything you do.  

   But there is a comfort in the fact that these are probably not true goodbyes, probably more likely they are "adieu" or at least see you later.  And while they may not make the absolute goodbyes less painful, they do give you practice for when they come.  Today I learned that a good friend is saying goodbye, absolutely, to his young daughter.  

   There are no thinner places. 

Piece of pottery in my heart

   To avoid picking up every rock on the island and attempting to bring it home (the lady in the post office will not let us mail rocks home), I have switched to pieces of sea pottery and sea glass.  They are light weight, and much easier to pack.  Although I will admit that there is a limit to how much of them you can put in your trouser pocket before the weight pulls it down.  I have decided to use them to make a cross for my wall of crosses in my entry way.  (I did want to find a piece of driftwood to use at the base, but that may be another post).  

   One of my roommates and dear friend was also collecting sea glass and pottery (sea pottery washed by the sea like glass, but it is shards of crockery).  She was collecting some for a family member who was making jewelry out of them.  And while it never escalated to a competition, it was fun to compare different pieces.  She ran into a bit of a dilemma has she tried to pack yesterday, and was running out of suitcase room.  Ultimately some of the less attractive pieces were left behind.    

   But for her leaving celebration she shared with us her pieces, and noted how they were all broken, yet beautiful.  Just like us.  How they were all destined for different purposes, still useful, although none of them whole.  Some were going to become ornaments, some jewelry, some reminders, but all had a new purpose completely different from the original intent.  

   How different are you from what you suspected might have been your original purpose?

   That could be a thin place. 

Living intentionally, together

     I have talked before about how I am living in community with about 14 other people. I share my sleeping quarters with 4 other women, ranging in age from mid 20's to mid 60's, and the rest of the living space is shared with the 14 others.  We have a common living/dining room and a small kitchenette that we share.  There is a mini-fridge, a microwave, and most importantly an electric kettle, which is referred to as "the jug" (as in someone is always putting the jug on).  There tends to be those of us that are in at a reasonable time (before midnight) and those that are in a little later (earlier).  Occasionally there are those that don't make it in, and they come scurrying in to change clothes and get to work on time.

     There is actually very little disagreement among those of us living in the house.  We have a gathering each week on Friday mornings to discuss what issues we may have.  Here is the gist of the meeting; if you move or use it put it back, if you dirty it clean it, and if you take a shower clean out the drain.
Typically, the meeting closes with your mother doesn't live here.  And we will have similar issues and concerns next week, discuss them only a little and move on.
Clearly, if 15 people who have little to no relationship with one another can live together with very little conflict then there should be a way for others to get along.  About the only thing that we have in common is the interest in being at Iona.  We come from different countries, we speak different languages and those that speak English as a first language all have different accents.  We sat outside and discussed things we had been taught in school, and discovered the wide disparity in how many continents there are, how many planets there are, and how words are pronounced. Some are here for religious reasons, spiritual reasons, and employment reasons and simply because they thought it would be a fun way to spend 8 weeks.  But the point of the matter is, with essentially very little effort we all bring our differences together and live together, peaceably.

How much effort would it take for you to achieve peaceable living?

This could be a thin place.

So you come to this tiny place

     Okay, so not to make too much of a small thing, but I am on an island that is about 3 miles long and 1.5 mile wide.  It has one road, which is a single track road meaning only one vehicle at a time.  If the hotel van is unable to turn around in their drive, then they must go about a quarter mile up the road to turn around.  Iona is about 6 hours from Glasgow, (its 5 hours from Shreveport to New Orleans) if you could do it in a six hour stretch, but it is almost impossible to achieve the coordination of a bus/train, ferry, bus, ferry combination. Typically, you come up from Glasgow, stay overnight in Oban, and then do the ferry, bus, ferry trip. You traverse one entire island, Mull, to get to Iona.  So in reality, you cannot actually be here by accident.

     I tend to think of it as a bit like Mayberry, small town atmosphere in an island setting.  Once the last ferry leaves in the afternoon, no one is on the island that is not living or staying here.  We don't have locks on our doors and if you misplace something you simply announce it and eventually the item will be returned.  There are at least three I pads and I phones in my room, and we simply leave them plugged in and charging while we are at work.  One of the youngsters that was here this week misplaced his IPod and when the housekeepers located it they put it in the mail for him. Often I walk from the village to my residence well into the night without any concern.

     So it is remote.  It is freakishly safe.  And it is apparently a beehive of social and cultural events. Almost every evening there is some event planned before or after worship, which is at nine.  Many of these are planned by the other volunteers here and may include everyone, or one of the work or resident groups.  Other events are planned to take place by outside groups. Earlier this month a music educational group "Mendelssohn on Mull" performed in the Abbey Church. This is a group of highly skilled youth and young adults who have been sponsored through an organization on the Isle of Mull to pursue careers in classical music. It was amazing.  I truly wished that I knew more about music, because it was so moving.  Last night a couple of my friends and I went to a celebration of Tibetan culture.  Monks from a monastery in India are touring England and Scotland and were presenting a dance exhibition.  It was amazing, lasting about two hours.  I am not sure that I would have that opportunity ever, except on Iona.

Truly, if you are here long enough the world comes to Iona.

Treasure in our lives

       This week our entire community is filled with teenagers.  There are some from Sweden, Scotland, Canada, England, U.S. and Mexico.  The Iona Community considers it very important to work with youth from throughout the world.  Historically the youth camped on the grounds of the Abbey, but now with accommodations in the Abbey and Macleod centre, they stay indoors.  The theme for the week is "Treasures," and that will take on all the fun type of themes in the form of game shows and pirate parties.  On a more serious note the youth will explore what they treasure in their life, what treasures hold them, and what do they do with their treasures.

     We are invited to their sessions, if we are not working, and if we can stay awake long enough.  Because they are youth many of their sessions take place after evening worship is dismissed (9:30 p.m.), and therefore, I am not able to stay up that late.  But simply hearing the review of their sessions has started me to thinking.  What do you treasure most?  Certainly I would have to put my family right up there at the very top.  Not very large and concentrated mostly in one place family is my most treasured treasure.  I would have to say my friends, which fortunately for me is an ever growing population.  The only reason I really enjoy social media networks is to have the distinct privilege of staying in touch with my friends all over the world.  Just last week I heard from friends in Cambodia, India and Hong Kong.  I don't place much stock in my possession treasures, although I admit some of my possessions are treasured.  My niece asked me when she was in charge of my house "what should I try to save if the house catches fire?"  My response, "you and the dog, and if worse comes to worse we can get another dog."  Clearly if you know me I love my puppy, but I can't purchase more family.

     I think the other critical question they will be looking at is what do you do with your treasure?  Certainly how we use our incomes to impact ourselves and society is an increasing concern.  Early in my stay here this time I was working on my new household budget.  Because of decisions made by others, I will be facing a reduction in my household income and I want to make certain that the things I am responsible for will be covered.  So I spent some time working on my budget, and could not figure out why there was this chunk of money left over at the end of the budget.  I kept going through the numbers, again and again, and it was a mystery.  I left it alone and went with some friends on a walk, and the discussion turned to finances.  First thing one of them said was after their tithe, and it was a slap on the forehead.  That is where my money goes first, and I was so used to taking it out, that I didn't even think about it.  That was the money at the end of the budget, it wasn't left over, and it was money that I typically don't count.  Duh!

     Maybe it's time to pay more attention.  Maybe it is time to check where our treasures are, what our treasures are doing and what do we treasure.

Picnic in the Nunnery

     Coming to the Isle of Iona and participating in the life of the Iona Community is not a retreat.  They tell you that in advance, whether you are coming as a guest or a volunteer.  As a guest you will join in the life of the community, through a series of sessions that you will participate in, and through tasks that you will be given.  You will help serve and clean up after meals.  You will do some light housekeeping, some dishwashing and maybe even some vegetable chopping.  While you will be given time on your own to do with as you please, this is certainly not a place of retreat, meditation and navel gazing.  As a volunteer we work about seven and half hours a day, with one and half days off a week.  And to paraphrase a wonderful country singer "we work hard, we play harder."

     At our staff meetings on Friday a good part of the time is spent making announcements about social activities that will be taking place on the island. These may be open to all the people on the island, or smaller groups on the island.  Those of us working here may also have social events that we have planned, for example a game night or a leaving celebration.  Sometimes the events are even smaller, for example, people with shared days off may plan events.  A volunteer in the Abbey Kitchen and I share the same day off, and we both like to walk, so we take hikes together.

     After a particularly busy week, those of us living in the same centre decided to have a picnic.  All of those who wanted to join in and were not working met for a time of fellowship and feasting.  We ate in the Nunnery which is a ruin where a Benedictine nunnery was built centuries ago.  We spread out two sleeping bags, and shared the bounty of bizarre foods we had purchased at the grocery (turns out most of us were into cheese and olives, with bread and smoked salmon pate).  And we sat and laughed. It was very simple, but shared community.  There was very little planning, it wasn't a big event, but many of us agreed that it may have been one of the most significant gatherings we had participated in.

Where are the simple significances in your life?

This was a thin place.

Notion of Priority

     The Iona Community is a collection of similar minded Christians, who place an emphasis on peace and justice, in all the variety of forms in which they may or may not make themselves obvious.  It is an ecumenical group of folk, so they probably don't share common practices from their faith traditions, but they do share a love of Christ and explore ways to extend that love to the world.  They have lots of different ways of creating opportunities for that very thing; running the two centres on Iona, and the one on Mull, providing worship and spiritual resources through their publishing branch, and through a mission outreach program to people living in urban centres which they call Priority Areas.

     Isn't that cool? Ministry with the poor is labelled Priority area, and the community lives into that by making that ministry a priority in their life.  It seems so Gospel like, just as Jesus placed the priority on being with and ministering with the poor. It is so often easy to give lip service to a ministry and say it’s important, but in the end it appears not to be so.  Or how embarrassing would it be to call something a Priority but then not bring realization to the name.  But that it NOT what occurred.  The culmination of the effort by the Community resulted in about 60 people being able to leave the urban environment and come and spend a week on the Island of Iona, and participating in a holiday (vacation) program designed to mimic the Olympic Games.  For me it was similar to spending the week in Sihanoukville with the Cambodian lay leaders, who had never been to the beach before.
The members of the Iona Community may not know for months, maybe years, how their efforts influenced the lives of the people. But for those of us that were privileged enough to have the opportunity to work directly with these guests they changed our lives with their smiles, their stories and their generosity.

It was a thin place.

Routine and rituals

     We have a routine.  All of us do.  But here on Iona, we follow a weekly routine, and we are not particularly comfortable when that has to change.  We can and will be flexible, in all sorts of hospitable ways, but in the end, we enjoy our routine.
On Friday morning we bid adieu to our guests of the week, and then return to our work areas for meetings, getting our house in order for the next set of guests and a little social time without the pressure of caring for guests.  On Saturday afternoon, everything needs to be ship shape, as new guests will arrive, we will prepare meals, have welcoming time, worship and other guest events.  Sunday is our big worship service in the morning, followed by our main meal of the day during lunch, activities, events and then an evening meal of soup, then worship.  Monday and Thursday some guests will go to Staffa, to see the Fingeals cave and the puffins, while others will do other things.  Tuesday is pilgrimage day, and guests will do the long or short pilgrimage, Wednesday is a day of planned events and activities, then Friday we say goodbye and start all over again.  That is routine.

     Within the routine there are rituals.  When guests are going to Staffa, we have to move the lunch meal up 30 minutes.  On pilgrimage day we have to provide them bread and fillings to make sandwiches to take with them.  Tuesday evening’s meal is typically a bit heartier because of the physical demands of the pilgrimage.  When you are on pilgrimage there are rituals you perform, such as selecting a rock at Columba's bay and throwing it into the ocean to symbolize releasing the issues you are carrying.

     We have rituals in our jobs that may or may not be common. Typically when we make scones for tea break, yes it is a real thing, we ritually sit down for tea each day, the last little bit of dough that can no longer be cut into a scone is shaped into a figure eight.  When I work the morning shift, my ritual includes going around the outside of the building to check my freezer and refrigerator temperatures before going into the kitchen.

     Routines and rituals can be important, but when they become the most important thing we need to be careful.  When doing the thing becomes more important than what we are doing or who we are doing it with, we need to be careful.  That's where the Pharisees got themselves in a bit of a bind.  So let's hold them close, but not tightly, and our routines and rituals can continue in our thin place.

Hosting leadership

      In this morning's Sunday sermon the presenter suggested that we no longer lived in a world that needed heroic leaders.  We have entered a time where we need hosting leaders.  Heroic leaders have plans and initiatives that focus on what they and those like them believe and don't generate a movement, but further an institution.  It doesn't matter which side of the platform you come down on, right or left, conservative or moderate, as a hero leader you are going to champion only the cause that you are the hero for.  The presenter noted that in almost all recent incidents, in Europe and the U.S., where a HERO has been elected or put into office to 'save the day' it has not been so.

      The suggestion offered was that we needed hosting leadership, a leader(s) that can genuinely build consensus among the governing bodies to move in a direction that serves the largest group of the population to the detriment of the least numbers of the population.  I don't generally pay attention to the status of government, but all I could think was it would be great if we could just start with the church. What if the church could agree to have hosting leadership?  What if we could agree to do those things that we were commanded to do, and serve the largest group of the populace while causing limited detriment to others that we called Christian?  Maybe if we could get that right, the world might pay closer attention to us, and what we should be doing.  What if we could agree to start hosting leadership with those that attended our congregation, and those that our congregation serves?

Willing to believe, that would be a thin place.

When the time comes to move on, God is in the next place

      Are you good at moving on?  I appear to be good at moving on, but appearances can be deceptive.  I get very comfortable, and even when I know that I should move on, I don't.  At least, not until I get a significant nudge from God.  There have been some very critical and crucial moments, when I knew that I needed to take the next step, but fear, occasionally, and comfort more often, have kept in rooted in place.  I have even been miserable, but unmoving.  God whispers in that still, small voice, and I sort of answer, "really, but it is so nice here."  "Or I am not sure exactly what you are asking God, so I will stay here until you are a bit clearer."  And God, in that way that God has to frequently do with me, gently but firmly pulls the rug out from under me and I am moved.

      And always, God is already where I am going, and God has stuff there for me, and I am bewildered at what in the world I was hesitating for.  So this time when the decision was made for me to move on, I simply leaned into it.  I did not struggle or hesitate, but said "great, what is it I am to do?"  And while I have little glimmers of what may lie ahead, I do have a clear picture of what I should avoid ahead.  The unfortunate part is that the things I should avoid are traps of the known routine that I can easily fall into, and the glimmers are a bit more unknown.

      But there this a thin place ahead and God is already there.

Those without access to education

      We have morning worship each day at 9 a.m. and I almost always go. It is my favorite service. It is short, a couple of hymns (last week we sang one by one of my seminary professors), a scripture reading and prayers.  The closing responses do not end with an Amen, but literally take us into our work day. The morning prayers are wonderful because we name specific countries, specific conditions and problems, specific affiliates and associates of the community and end with specific community members.  Last week one of the leaders prayed specifically for those without access to education and training.

      And that really touched me.  As a teacher in a community college, I have many students who are on the margins of not having access to education. They are there because of governmental and private financial aid programs.  Many probably are surprised to find themselves in a position of getting an education.  But still because of the country they live in they do have access to education.  When I think about Mexico, India and Cambodia, all countries that I have visited, and I recall that in each place the burning desire of the people is to get an education. And there is little access.  In Mexico, the churches I have worked have begun kindergartens to start the education of the young.  The children at the baby fold in India all attend school, and have their educations mapped out for them so as to become self sustaining.

      Early Sunday school programs were literally educational programs for adults and children to learn to read and write.  You can't read the Bible if you can't read!  What are we doing as a church to make sure that adults and children in our communities, in our cities and our world have access to education?

      This needs to be a thin place.

Start here. Go everywhere.

     This was actually on the back of a colleagues t-shirt and it is a slogan from a college organization. And what a cool slogan it is.  It could actually have been the marketing strategy of Jesus, when he was calling all the disciples.  It has a little more zip than "come, follow me."  Start here with me in Galilee, and see where this could take you.
I fully believe that Jesus intended the message of Love God and Love your neighbor to go everywhere. Start here, where you are and do work at these two things.  Then continue, just as Jesus said, Jerusalem, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Literally, go everywhere. And I believe that means different things to and for different people. Really, we all can't just go, because then we would all be there or where ever.  But I do think that God intends that we all must make certain that someone goes, however, and whatever our role is in making certain that happens.  And I fully believe that both, here and everywhere are equally important.

All of us as disciples are also missionaries.  The disciple part is what prepares us for our missionary work.  And we all have to do the disciple work.  That is worship, Bible study, learning more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and how that may be best achieved.  But we must do the missionary part also.  Essentially anytime we are out in the world, where ever that may be, then that is our mission field.  It may look just like home, or it may not.

So prepare yourself, mission field ahead. Start here -- go everywhere.

And it can be a thin place.

Love that has been looking for us

      This was a line from a song that we sang in worship the other night.  God's loves us so much that God is looking for us.  Think about the world that we live in and how many people, maybe even ourselves, are tangled up in this search for love.  And the love of God is looking for us.

        We have just had some really amazing female preadolescents as guests this week.  They were all wiggly and giggly and developed little "crushes" on the young adult male staff members (who found it very embarrassing).  They put enormous effort into trying to draw attention to themselves, when there was clearly no point.  And I can see it in some of the young adults I deal with, desperate to have someone to cling to, only to be crushed with rejection or sometimes worse. And I have to accept my own shortcomings here; all too often it is easy to jump to conclusions from a gesture that was merely kind, not necessarily loving.

       How can I as someone who gets to spend a lot of time with young people help them realize the value that God places upon them?  And they don't need to look for that love; they just need to stretch out their hand.  And for myself and others, how can we become more aware that our lives are effected/affected by the love of God, which searches for us relentlessly.

It could become a thin place.

The rest of "this" (do this in remembrance)

       I attended a several foot washing service one afternoon that was actually for a group of our guests. It was held in a small chapel behind the Abbey and my interest was peaked in two regards; that particular chapel has a special place in my heart and being a deacon, the basin and towel also has a special place in my heart.  The guests were a group that I had grown particularly close to, which you can do in a surprisingly short amount of time when you share meals, worship and living quarters, and they were comfortable with my joining them.

         The worship leader used the text from the Gospel of John from the night of Jesus' arrest where John records the washing of the feet rather than the Last supper. All of the other gospels relate the sharing of bread and wine, and John tells of the foot washing which we typically repeat on Maundy Thursday. But if we take the phrase from Luke seriously, do this in remembrance of me; shouldn't we celebrate the foot washing with greater regularity?  This was the question put to the participants by the worship leader.  We want to celebrate communion with greater frequency (being good Wesleyans as often as we can), but the foot washing we shy away from.  Now it could be the awkwardness of the whole foot washing task, but if it was something that Jesus did, and as disciples we are about what Jesus did, then ought we not actually engage in this ministry.  More importantly maybe we need to engage in what footwashing represents.

       What other things might we find "too difficult" to follow the example of Jesus?  And what does that say about us and our discipleship?

This needs to become a thinner place

When the church forgets to be the church

         It is a sad fact that often the church, as Christ's body of believers, actually forgets that it is called to be the church. To live by the example of Christ in the world.  All too often we as the church concern ourselves with our personal judgment of things, rather than responding with the example of Christ.  On a larger scale we have disagreements about baptism; dunking, sprinkling or pouring, believers baptism versus infant baptism.  We argue about communion elements, must they contain wheat and alcohol to be legitimate or does juice and gluten free stuff count as well.  And then we will continue our disagreement with who shall take communion, only those who believe as we do, all those who believe, or as is offered at worship here on Iona, "those who have faith and those who want more."

        But there are so many even smaller areas where we can forget that we are the church; when we spend days upon days arguing about money when mission and ministry are at stake, we are forgetting to be the church.  When it becomes more important how you look at church, than what you are doing as the church, we are forgetting to be the church.  When we accept at face value falsehoods about our brothers and sisters without asking them for verification, then we are forgetting to be the church.

What if we decide that we are the church and we are not going to forget?!

That would become a thin place.

Picking up a strangers instrument and playing it

        Each week the guests have there own concert, and display their talents, to whatever extent or type that may be. I have heard a song sung by a group of Lutherans from Minnesota (very Garrison Keiller like), a song sung by a group from Glasgow (very few people understood them), storytelling from a youth from the U.S. and storytelling from a Scots adult using his I pad, and those with a variety of musical instruments.  Of particular note was a young woman who is a flutist of merit, but did not bring her instrument with her.  The group of musicians in residence here were able to find a flute and she did play both in the concert and during worship.  And it was dazzling.  Now most musicians will tell you, it is no small thing to pick up a strangers instrument and perform with it.

        How often are we asked to do something with less than we would expect and do it with grumbling and resentment?  What if we approached it the way this young woman did, with vigor and gusto and enchanted us all with the beauty of the song?  

This was a thin place. 

Series not of my own design

I have become known in my Iona community as the person who is bound to make you laugh, is bound to get the job done, who will take images of everything and who makes notes in my little green book.  One of my roommates says that she has taken to not remembering anything, but simply asks me to look in my book.  Now some of what I write in my book is notes about who will be our new guests, who our new member in residence will be, and what events taking place in the next week are ones that I am likely to attend.  Other things that I write in my notebook are ideas and concepts that occur to me or things that I hear which strike my fancy enough for me to write about them.  For the next several days I will write about phrases that have occurred throughout the past few weeks which have really struck a chord with me.  They may be random phrases I have overheard, or a sentence from a conversation, or something from worship or even something that was on someone's shirt.  Join me over the next several days to find out where these places become thin.

Me and rocks

        If you have spent anytime reading this blog, you know that I have a keen interest in rocks. I have a basket of them in the entrance way of my home that I have collected from all over the world.  I really appreciate the beauty of a rock.  There is just something about a certain rock, in a certain place, that calls to me to pick it up and bring it home.  Now the obvious problems are that I can like a lot of rocks, and rocks are naturally heavy. They are rocks.  So I have had to learn, painfully and expensively, that you cannot bring all the rocks you find home with you. There is a weight limit on the checked bag.  While it was a difficult quandry in the Holy Land, a country entirely made up of rocks, it is even more a complexity here on Iona.  The island is made up of so many different kinds of rocks.  Literally, there are red ones, green ones, white marbly ones, and some sandwiched together with two different kinds.  Last time I was here I managed to limit myself to one rock from each major beach that I visited.  Will I succeed at this level of self control again?  Or is there an alternative plan?

      Correct answer. Alternative plan.  I have taken to the various beaches recovering bits of sea glass and pottery shards.  These are lighter than rocks and I am planning on using them to make a cross for my wall at home.  The problem is, as you might guess, I have become a bit obessed with locating and collecting these items.  I carry a plastic bag with me to put them in, and then I wash them when I return to my room.  (I did forget my bag the other day and simply put them in my trouser pocket.  Not the best plan.  Way too much weight on one side.  One of my roommates actually started all this by gathering them for her friend, who will make jewerly with them.

      Because of there light weight, these peices tend to get carried in with the tide, and deposited and left in interesting places.  This requires my climbing onto rocks and exploring little crevices between the rock.  I actually found a pottery shard that was wedged so tightly in the rock that I could not remove it.  I did photograph it.  But climbing over the rocks has brought me to some interesting places.  Yesterday I found a red granite boulder about the size of a basketball, wedged between two black granite columns about 2 feet off the ground.  There was no moving this rock.  God put it there and there it was to stay.  I also found this semicircle carved into the black rock by the tides, and deposited into the area were many rocks roughly 4 - 5 inches in diameter.  When you climbed into the circle and sat on the small rocks, you were sheilded from the wind, but could still hear the waves.  I imagine this is where God sits.

this was a thin place.

The confidence of boots

       Each week guests are given instructions about the two pilgrimages offered by the community; the on road and the off road.  The on road is as you would expect on fairly well paved road or track.  The off road is as you would expect a bit more complex.  Guests are advised to wear boots, with good grip and ankle support for going on the off road pilgrimage.  Boots.  As staff we are advised that boots may be the best thing for us also.  In the kitchen or housekeeping given the nature of your tasks it is really unsafe to be working in flip flops or sandals.  Again, boots.  Last week we had some very pretty days and most of us pulled out those summery type shoes and walked around.  However, they are not good for climbing on rock or in general walking around as the ground is a bit rugged.  So on a beautiful summers day, I found myself on the beach in my sandally shoes, and attempting to climb on some of the rocks.  Not a good plan. Clearly something could easily slip or snap.  (not entirely sure to what degree I should be bouncing around on rocks).

       But that is just the thing, there is a certain confidence that you get from wearing your boots.  Doning your boots in the morning gives you a sense of being able to face the day -- there is literally nothing that you cannot accomplish while wearing your boots.  My boots were a Christmas gift from my brother, along with a couple of pairs of really good socks,so they have that sentimentally value associated with them. I treated them with this waterproofing agent I found at home (also waterproofed a ballcap), and they are pretty impermeable (lots of rain and literally standing in the sea).  Now they are not good for quietly escaping your room in the morning, because there is a certain foot stomp that naturally seems to go with boots. And they don't really make ANY sort of fashion statement, except that you are wearing sensible boots.

and you are confident.

Spirituality for me

       I was asked to help a young man who was leading worship the other evening.  I purposely don't volunteer to lead worship because as clergy that is something that I often get to do.  But I do assist if asked, and I am honored to do so.  The question I was asked to respond to during worship was "what does spirituality mean for you?"  (And I should warn you there are no easy questions here on Iona, everything seems to be a deeply reflective theological question.)  So it was no small thing to ponder the question, and even a greater thing to share those ponderings in worship.

       Initially, I put spirituality into the box of finding out where those places were that God was, and perhaps even discerning what God might be up to in those places.  Those would be the thin places that I am metaphorically (and literally) searching for.  I suppose that my search was to discover what is or may be the distinctive nature of those places where the veil is thin between heaven and earth.  But the passage of time has altered my search from what makes a place "thin" to what could we do or I do to make a place become more thin. Spiritually has become a search for my role in making a place become more of a thin place where others can seek and find God.

Won't you come along and create thin places.

Bananas

          One of the things that I truly love about coming to Iona is the wide variety of topics that are discussed and discussed in ways that emphasize their significance to the world that I live in.  I have already shared with you the information I learned about coffee in its various forms.  This week we had an evening service on Bananas.  (and that is pronounced BA nan as, not BAN an as).  

          It may seem a bit of a stretch to be the principal topic of a worship service, but when you learn about the regulation of bananas in contrast with other goods and materials, they do become an issue of justice.  Do you know that large corporations, typically those in the US, control the sale and trade of bananas to such an extent that it essentially eliminates the fair trade of bananas?  Meaning if you are a small plantation owner who does not want to sell you bananas to a large corporation, chances are you have no market available to you.  So when you are purchasing those bananas with the lovely sticker on them, you are reducing and eliminating the possibility of financial stability for many people.  The average banana plantation worker earns less than $1.50 a day.  About the only sources of fair trade bananas are small cooperative markets and health food stores that seek out special bananas, like those delicious little red ones. 

          Further, the regulation and control over the sale of bananas is greater than that of weapons.  The United Nations is emphasizing that fact this week, as they begin to look at controlling the sale of weapons to developing countries.  Think about that there is more regulation over that banana you put in your breakfast this morning, than there is over the sale of AK-47 assault rifles. 

Let’s work to make that a thin place. 

Don't feed the bears

          I am apparently living out Downton abbey.  I have not actually seen an episode of the show, but a preacher friend of mine offered a sermon series based upon the drama, thus educating me in the process.  It is about a large English manor (not a church), whose name is Downton Abbey (the Brits name their homes), during World War II England.  The series chronicles the lives of those who live upstairs in the house, and those who occupy the lower levels of the home to serve them.  And by my decision and choice I am one of those serving others.  I am in the kitchen.  I am preparing wood for our guests to eat.  I work near and with the housekeepers, who serve the food that I prepare.  Typically my interaction with the guests is when they come to chop vegetables and when I join them during a meal.  The housekeepers are in contact much more frequently than the kitchen staff generally would be.  It is so entrenched in tradition, that whomever is chairing the meal will actually ask prior to starting a prayer for a meal “is the kitchen ready?”, meaning is the food ready to serve.  

          Each week the housekeepers must train the newly arrived guests in their tasks.  Guests do not come to the Abbey or MacLeod Centre to sit and “navel gaze”, they are expected to join in the life of the community and have chores to do each day.  It is the responsibility of the housekeepers to do this orientation.  And each week they bring the guests through the doors to the kitchen/scullery and show them all the stages of washing, sterilizing and drying dishes.  Then the housekeeper will generally have the guests turn to face the kitchen and say “that’s the kitchen, don’t go over there.”  It feels very much like you are one of the bears in the national park, and the park rangers are warning you not to feed the bears.  Kitchen staff generally smiles and wave, as if to say, no really we are friendly.  Because the housekeepers have to buzz about doing many different things they are often not around for questions that the guests have, and we as cooks are in the kitchen always.  So the guests come into the kitchen and ask us questions, for which we are absolutely clueless as to most of the answers.  I don’t really know where the housekeepers keep the sugar for the sugar bowl.  I do know where the cooking sugars are, and they are not the same.  And the guests simply look at us poor hungry bears we have been made out to be in dismay, “how could you not know where the sugar is?”  One of my practices has become polite ways to say, “I don’t really know, could you ask a housekeeper?”  

          It may sound silly, but it is good to know that you don’t know something and readily admit that fact.  Each of us has tasks that we must perform, and we need the knowledge, skills and ability to do those things, but we also need to grace to realize we don’t know something and have the courage to ask someone who might.   

To live and die in community

Of course, I have written about how we live in community. We share eating space, living space and sleeping space. I have talked in the past of how we live and live quiet well. This trip, however, I am getting to experience how we “die” in community. No one has actually died, but many of the volunteers are playing “Assassins” a game in which you are given someone’s name and you must hunt them down and “kill” them with a designated weapon. You instantly become suspicious of someone who is carrying around a teaspoon or a carrot or an extremely large book. Once you have knocked them off you begin hunting their prey. Know this may sound a bit over the top for a community which prays to seek peace and pursue it every morning, but the young people have added a unique twist. You have to be alone with your assassin. So, the rationale goes, if you are truly living in community and never alone, you cannot be harmed, even metaphorically. Where three or more are gathered…
 
A common phrase this week has been, for example, “Dawn, would you like to go for a walk down to the village with me?” This particularly raises an eyebrow when you don’t know the person all that well. If you forget, or become so excited by the invitation, you could end up “dead”. There are alliances being formed, and co-conspirators being named. A friend of mine is leaving this week, and at lunch she announced that if someone has to do the deed, for them to simply let her know where she needs to meet them.

While there are many negative things that can be said about the game, the volunteers are treating it in the depths of friendship and community. Those who have already been eliminated have achieved sort of a cult like status, and are asked again and again to regale us with their demise story. “Exactly how were you lured into the abbey flat to be hammered with a purple hymnal?” It does highlight the imperative of safety in numbers and how we can often place limitations on ourselves by only looking at the negative aspects. Perhaps we can look at things perceived as negative and look for God and community in those things.

That would make it a thin place.