Pilgrimage to Iona: A Large Day in Skye

Three ferries later, and a lot of driving on single lane roads, in and out of lay bys for oncoming cars and lorries, we were on the Isle of Skye. 

I was unprepared for the extraordinary landscapes. This may be the most beautiful place on earth. 

My friend and I, missing the daily rhythm of worship at the Abbey, decided to use the new book of Episcopal worship, Daily Prayer for all Seasons, at moments throughout the day. Truth be told, the views of creation we are seeing could not be experienced without stopping to praise God. It is all too big. We are in yet another thin place. 
Prayers at noon day were said while hiking the Quairang. As God would have it, the hymn appointed for that service was For the Beauty of the Earth.  How could we keep from singing?

 

Pilgrimage to Iona: And on to Skye

Up before the sun this morning packing for a road trip to Isle of Skye. A final breakfast at our perfect hotel before catching the first of three ferries today. 

Yesterday was full of sunshine, and we hiked to what may be the most beautiful beach in the world on the north end of Iona. 
Doing last things–last walk around the Abbey to see my favorite places, a final stop at the Iona Community shop for a present for my brother, a stop on a bench for an ice cream cone (the second best in the world). 

Worship in the Abbey last evening was a healing service. I had a list of those I am especially carrying in my heart to offer, one by one, to God’s healing presence. 
On the wall of the alcove leading to the cloisters are these words:  

May it be so. 

Pilgrimage to Iona: Shining Like the Sun

God of all new beginnings, thank you for the promise of the journey. (Tom Gordon)

The sun is back and it’s a large day. 

Saying traveling mercies at breakfast to new companions who are departing today, Anne, the woman of riper years from Virginia, said, “Pray for us. You are in church a lot!”  And so I am. 

Not nearly as windy yesterday, we were off for hikes. Partly sunny, partly rainy, after the gales of Sunday, the drops on my slicker felt just fine. It’s interesting how going through one challenge makes challenges that follow seem, well, less challenging. 

We hiked to two beautiful beaches. 

Then we took off for The Hermit’s Cell. The bog one must slog through was even boggier, so we reveled in the journey through the moors rather than the destination.  A reason to return to Iona–so many places still to see. 

At dinner last evening I met yet another Episcopal priest (are there any left in the States or are we all on Iona?). Turns out he was the priest who visioned The Bible Challenge, a means to read the Bible through in a year, with a distinctive Anglican flavor. I was delighted to tell him how life-changing it had been in the parish where I serve, as many of us we began together on The Feast of Pentecost, 2013. I told him of the joy as folks shared how reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation had impacted their lives in Christ. I see their shining faces.  I thanked him for his gift to the Church. 

As we say at the Abbey

For the Word of God in Scripture, for the Word of God among us, for the Word of God within us, thanks be to God.