Playing together

As you might well expect if we live together and work together, then it can only stand to reason that we play together. We are obligated to work 7.5 hours a day with 1.5 days off a week. And although it is a tiny island, we folk can come up with some various ways to play. Some are quite energetic. A few of the young folk have gathered some bicycles and they use them as a quick means of getting around on the island, and while their have been some crashes it doesn’t deter them. This week three of the young people, two of my kitchen buddies, road to the south end of the island and explored the caves while the tide was out. In celebration of the summer solstice a bonfire was planned on the North beach and several of the young people were out a good bit of the evening. A few nights ago we had the Sacristans Olympics which consisted of a competition about arranging chairs, worship books and hymnals and cleaning candles. It was great fun, and my team came in second place. After the Olympics, the young people were having a dance. I was invited, but since the start time was midnight, I politely declined. But it was nice to be asked. My favourite pastime is to go for walks. Being an island there is an abundance of beaches and all seem different. Some are sandy, another is white sand, one seems to be made up of crushed shells, another is a pebbly beach and still another is a rocky beach. I am carefully trying NOT to collect stones from all over the place, and have moved to picking up bits of sea glass and sea pottery (although I have a sneaky suspicion someone on Mull breaks glass and pottery and throws them into the sea so they wash up on Iona). My plan is to perhaps gather enough to make a cross for my wall at home. But here is the thing; regardless of what you set out to do someone else wants to know what you are doing and if they might come along. Everyone on staff includes everyone else on staff, so that no one is ever left out. While I feel certain the young folk may have been a bit appalled if I had actually gone to the dance, I am as equally certain that they would have fully included me. It is as if we have extended the inclusive communion table of Iona to our entire lives. What would our lives look like if we lived, worked and played that way? That would certainly be a thin place.