Many of you know that on my mother’s side there is a strong Norwegian lineage. With names like Signe, Astrid, Dagny, Trigva, and Sigrid, you do have to ask if you do not already know where these names comes from, we are very much Scandinavian!
So when i was wandering around Iona and finally found St Columba’s Bay, it was great fun to run into Norwegians and hear where they were from. The funny thing is that they kept apologizing to the Ionians. Iona, embraced Christianity when St Columba set up residency in the 6th century. And it’s the Vikings that kept coming and invading decimating the monks and the tiny island. (The Norwegians I met said, “Well, if you weren’t the first born son, you were getting nothing, you had to go and invade something to have land!”) What was remarkable is that the people of Iona accepted their kind apologies and said, “NO, if the Vikings hadn’t come the Romans would have kept invading, the Vikings helped us.”
Continuing along the way of St Cuthbert, it’s the monks from Iona who established Melrose Abbey where St Cuthbert entered the monastic life and his life ended in ministry on the isle of Lindisfarne. Lindisfarne is a unique island, where due to the coastal tides it is inaccessible 12 hours of the day and then passable only for 12, the waters come up and cover the walking path and road for 6 hours at a time! Lindisfarne was also a site of Viking invasions... and as I worshiped yesterday morning and waited to receive Eucharist i glanced to my left and there were three plaques commemorating the resolution of the Viking invasions. In 1993 they were commemorating the Viking invasions (the 1200th anniversary) and in the congregation were Norwegians who brought a letter from their bishop giving thanks for Christianity coming to Norway and seeking forgiveness for the pillaging the Vikings did on Lindisfarne. The framed handwritten note by Lindisfarne stated the conflict was now over.... reconciled. They were of the same body, same Lord through baptism and because of the persistence of the christians of the British Isles! This plaque was a send off surprise for me as we left the island and then headed to Durham where St. Cuthbert’s remains were transported..... due to more invasions!
St Cuthbert’s remains were taken from Lindisfarne due to Norman invasions, they traveled for 7 years until coming to rest in Durham Cathedral. And in the cathedral you can see Cuthbert’s resting place behind the high altar and the actual wooden coffin from 687! Apparently his coffin was well preserved and so it has lasted! It truly is amazing to see something so old and kept so faithfully, and added bonus our docent was very knowledgeable about the artifacts. Cuthbert’s cross, stole, and comb (gotta look good in the coffin!) were all included with his body in his coffin. As we were talking with our docent I shared that we had hiked and finally made it here to Durham (I said we did the final leg by train to Durham!) I shared about the Norwegians in Iona and she said, “OH, if the invasions had not occurred Durham cathedral would not exist!” You see because the relics of St. Cuthbert were moved around and finally laid to rest in Durham, King Henry VIII did not demolish Durham cathedral because of the relics when he took to smashing abbeys and monasteries (the cause of many of the ruins we saw on our route, communities could not recover and rebuild).
Often we dwell on the invasion, please understand I am not supporting violence, what these stories have done is to illuminatedto me what we do and how we move forward from that violence is important.
How do we shape our history, move towards reconciliation (if possible and preferably sooner than 1200 years!), and fight for others to prevent the same sort of violence to reoccur?
On the final part of my sabbatical i will be learning some Norwegian recipes....it’s fun how unexpected threads get woven into the fabric of our stories. These boots are still walking!
