Dear Friends,
Rest. Prayer. Quiet. Walks. Solitude. Reading. Water. Ancient ruins. Just what this tired priest needed for four weeks on the sacred Isle of Iona, off the coast of Scotland.
The island is beautiful in itself, and a popular destination for seven or eight months of the year – winters there can be rough – for tourists of all kinds from around the world. A large number of visitors, however, are clergy and laypeople with a deep love of Celtic Christianity.
Everyone visits the Iona Abbey (right), first established as a monastery by St. Columba in the mid-sixth century. In the ninth century, the wooden chapel was replaced with a stone structure, which was later destroyed by Viking and other raiders several times. The present abbey was restored in the early twentieth century. I attended services there on Sundays.
In October I will offer a presentation during Adult Christian Education about Iona and my time there. For now, I am very glad to be back among you, rested and ready to take on the program year. I’m also deeply grateful for having had the opportunity to spend extended time in a “thin place,” a place where heaven and earth seem very near to one another.
It is a special blessing to have so many gifted and dedicated people at Calvary who stepped up to keep life running smoothly during my absence. I am deeply grateful.
Wishing you every blessing,
Mtr. TJ
P.S.: Be sure to attend this Sunday’s service, when we will welcome into the household of God through Holy Baptism James Bruce Leslie, 18-month-old son of Brett and Rebecca Leslie and grandson of Bruce and Leannah!