The Iona Abbey and Community

 

After Helen went back for Ames' graduation mid June, Helen and Ames both meet me in Edinburgh, Scotland.  We spent several days there together.  Then we went to Forres, Scotland and had a week with Ames at the Findhorn Community.  We enjoyed spending time with Ames and learning more about the Findhorn way.  Ames then returned to London to spend time with his sister, Micah. Helen and I went directly to the Island of Iona and our stay at the Iona Abbey.  The residents of the Abbey are mainly folks on retreat from daily lives.  There are staff and volunteers that run the accomodations for the Iona Christian Community.  Again we found the Iona Community to be a dispersed community, with the Abbey (and associated McLeod Center) as the motherhouse or hub around which the community functions. 

 

Helen and I stayed here two weeks.  The first week was an open week, and there was some programming though participation was optional.  We did become accustom to the rhythm of life in the Abbey.  The week went something like this: morning wake up bell at 7:45 and breakfast at 8:15, worship in the Abbey Sanctuary at 9 a.m. and directly from worship to our daily tasks. (I mopped some stairs leading to the refrectory) At 10 a.m. we generally had the program offering, followed by tea and scones at 11 a.m.  At 11:30 a.m. we returned to finish the program session and at 1 p.m. we had lunch.  There was an optional 2 p.m. prayers for peace and justice in the Abbey Sanctuary for those who wanted to go.  Afternoons were generally mor freetime - time to go for a hike on the beartiful island, or read, or explore the history of the Abbey or ....   At 6 p.m. we had dinner.  The group was split in to helping teams with one team each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Then at 9 p.m. we had evening service in the Abbey Sanctuary.  Each evening the service was a little different.

 

This rhythm stayed pretty much the same over each week we were at the Abbey.  A couple other activities impinged on this schedule a bit.  One was the pilgrimage arouind the Island on Tuesday.  We left at 10:15 a.m. and finished about 4:30 p.m. after hiking about 7 miles and pausing for reflections and lunch and, of course, tea. On Wednesday afternoon a trip to a the famous Island of Staffa was offered as well. The combination of a beautiful island, continually changing weather, sheep and a few cows grazing in the fields, an abbey with a history of Christian monastics dating back to the 560's and present day worship and spiritual direction offer the visitor a powerful tonic for the soul.  We found the two weeks to vary mainly due those resident each week.  We deeply appreciated the conversations, times of prayer and worship, and the leadership that enabled us to experience the Iona Community and the way it calls participants to a deeper Trinitarian Christian faith. We would love to return one day, paerhaps even next spring or summer.