Leaving Iona

August 24, 2012
Friday is a bittersweet day on Iona. It begins with the waking bell (which up to now had been ringing at the more civil not-very-monklike hour of 7:45 a.m.), rousing us all at 7:00 a.m. so we can be down for breakfast with luggage packed in the lobby by "half seven." We make one last nostalgic trek over to the Abbey for The Leaving Service. Like the rest of the liturgy here, the language is direct and poignant, reminding us in no uncertain terms that the Christian life is lived not behind cloistered walls, no matter how ancient and comforting they may be, but in the midst of the world that God loves desperately and unconditionally:

O Christ, you are within each of us.
It is not just the interior of these walls:
It is our own inner being you have renewed...
If every wall should crumble, every church decay,
We are your habitation...
Take us outside, O Christ, outside holiness,
Out to where soldiers curse and nations clash
at the crossroads of the world.
So shall this building continue to be justified.
We ask it for your own name’s sake. Amen.

We then move together as a community out of the Abbey and onto the road that leads to the ferry, picking up our luggage at the dock. We are escorted down by the staff and volunteers who see us on to the boat and then take one great bow together toward us as we push out from the shore. The mood on the boat is a bit reflective, as we get to enjoy one last glimpse of the Abbey up the hill surrounded no longer by strangers (as was the case just a week ago) but by companions on this pilgrim road. The buses are waiting in Fionnophort to carry us across Mull and then we catch the ferry back to Oban where we have time for a lunch at the harbor. Even Oban feels familiar by now as we feast on prawn salad and fish and chips in this seafood mecca.

We use this picnic opportunity to say good bye to Mary who will be leaving us in Glasgow and and to pray together one last time round the table. We offer God thanks for the laughter, the new friendships, the grace-filled surprises and the holy moments that we found in and with each other, thanking each member of the group for their particular gifts that have been shared so generously throughout the week. We then board the train for Glasgow, soaking in some lovely new scenery en route. Mary takes her leave and we change trains for the one headed another hour east to Edinburgh, our new home for the weekend.