- Iona is where you luggage driver is the bartender at night at the pub and bakes bread for the bakery in the morning.
- Midsummer Murders (think murder she wrote but bettter) could never be filmed here because one episode would wipe out an entire family (Each episode has 3 murders, the town has 135 permanent residents)
- Iona is gorgeous!
- 3 restaurants in town, only one that you can pop in without reservations.
- “Not all who wander are lost” (CS Lewis or JRR Tolkien), Me: Here: I wander and am mostly always lost
- Sheep do not give directions regardless of how desperately you might be in need of them.
- It rains on Iona a lot (not a big deal if you wear the right clothes and wait 15 minutes because it also stops too)
- Gullies of rain (really called streams) and the path often look alike but are not the same thing. (One is less nice to step in/on)
- I am a fan of fences, they keep animals in their space and humans something to follow to find civilization again.
Iona is beautiful. It’s an island 3 miles long and about a mile wide. It’s easy to get lost on the trails, but not too badly, you will eventually hit water and worst case could follow the coastline back. Again worst case.
I arrived with SUNSHINE! It was gorgeous and not taking these moments for granted, I walked to the Abbey and the Nunnery and toured town (it’s less than a mile from where I am staying to the Abbey. Not knowing when the sun would be back, I took full advantage of its presence, which is good because on Thursday we didn’t see hide the sun at all and we almost saw the sun on Friday....it was brighter.....
Iona is an old island and it is where St Columba established a monastary in the 6th century and he was buried here (though I believe some of his remains have been removed). It has been a pilgrimage site for hundreds of years with nooks and crannies to discover.
The now Iona Community was established in the 1930’s by George McLeod... which created a prayerful community focused around 1. Prayer, 2. Scripture, 3. Accountability, 4. Social Justice and 5. Meeting together. This community offers morning prayers at 9am and Evening prayers at 9pm. There are several faith communities on the island- the Cowley Brothers (think SSJE in Massachusetts!) have the Bishop’s house on the island and offer Morning prayer at 8am and Compline at 8:15pm and the Catholics gather at 5pm daily and the Presbyterians only meet on Sundays (i think). There are a lot of opportunities for prayerfulness.
My learnings have been on the hikes here. The first day i wandered the trails at the northern tip of the island. Lovely. Wasn’t sure where i was most moments but I figured if i kept the houses in sight i would make it back okay. I had water, a power bar and a warm jacket. Worst case that would be my dinner. (Don’t worry, found a real dinner too!)
The second day i bought a map and set forth to do more of the northern part of the island through the hills. While i can navigate a train station and trains, i seem to be terrible at topographical maps paired with the rain here and trails that aren’t trails and sheep that don’t give directions... I wandered a good bit. I ran into a great group who pointed me out to where i was and then sent me on my way.
The third Day i set out encouraged by my friend who stayed with me that the hike was an easy one to Columba’s Bay (where they think the Saint first arrived- his abbey is 2 miles south-why? More mud for me to hike through)... so off i went. And the wandering began ....Today’s daily office readings talked about “do not judge others lest you be judged”- I was reminded of this when i was hiking into a bay and recalled my thoughts when our host said, “yea last week a hiker broke his ankle on his hike down to Marble Bay and when they found him he had hypothermia”— as i hiked down into a valley I realized my judgement passed on this other hiker thinking “Oh, the novice”—- and found myself looking at this ravine going “OH my!”..... needless to say i wasn’t even on Marble Bay! I survived just fine, no twisted ankles.
The blessing and challenge of Iona is that the trails are not marked with markers or sign posts, the paths allow you to wander, to meander, be lost (with or without a map!) and then return. You are never too far away and yet very isolated. I found myself alone on most of my trails and realizing the gift of companions on the way and also, if i am the only one out here, how nuts or lost am I?
I finally made it to St Columba’s Bay (they believe he first arrived here due to it’s size and location) and it is beautiful. And it is there i ran into the Norwegians. They came from the other path, the one i thought was too long- uh, it’s the easiest path i have ever hiked here! We had a delightful conversation about the space and hike.
The gift of this island and it’s smallness is that you become community - most stay 2-3 nights. My fellow residents and i had dinner together last night (remember only 3 places to eat at night) and they had helped the Norwegians i met this afternoon when they came across on the ferry. I came across the ferry with a sweet couple who I keep crossing paths with as they are hiking one way and i the other. While we haven’t exchanged names and numbers, we check in with each other and are always thankful to see each other!
At breakfast the first day we were talking about the journey here. My companion said, “it’s the great equalizer”- everyone has to spend quite a bit of time getting here due to the islands and transportation. No matter if you are a monk, resident, or pilgrim- everyone takes that ferry over!
There were moments on the hikes where i found myself getting frustrated and to turn my mood around i would think, “Well, at least i have hiking boots and not running shoes” or “I am able to hike and be lost” or “THANK YOU LILLY and St John’s for this opportunity”..... and then i would find a road or fence and be okay....
What are the equalizing things in your life?
How do you turn your mindset about when the mud puddles could pull you down?
Who are the strangers that are community on your path?
(The way of St Cuthbert is a marked path and I have told Rob he is in charge of the map)
