Stepping Lightly on the Bog & Beyond

I had never walked on bog before.

Iona is a strange island. Every edge has a beach, and every beach is different, from the beach on the north end, filled with beautiful white sand where we met Anna and Roger swimming, to Colomba Bay, which is so rocky that you risk a twisted ankle with every step. In between are hills so steep and full of rock formations that they seem like mountains, covered with heather and grasses that are every shade of green. And in the valleys of those hills is bog. As I plodded and bounded and walked up and down those hills on our pilgrimage, bog seems to be the perfect metaphor for Iona. "Step lightly," we were told. "If you step lightly, everything will be fine." And everything was fine, if muddy. Stepping lightly is what the Iona community is about. The community worries about being ecofriendly, composting, recycling: stepping lightly in the environment. But beyond that, how many of us trudge through our days, walking on and over people, ignoring those who need us, just trying to get by? Step lightly is a phrase that conjures up images of not just walking quickly, but joyfully. Not being buried under the weight of worries about work and family and life, but letting go of those cares. Not forgetting them, but re-prioritizing, and allowing God to take the burden. Further, stepping lightly works on bogs (as long as the water ratio isn't *too* high) because the plant life binds together. One plant could never bear the weight of a person; however, thousands intertwined can support you. If that's not what a true community does, working together to support all the members, then what is? And Iona is community defined. I think many of us were surprised at how quickly relationships formed, how friendly and accepting everyone was. Even when you didn't know someone's name, they still were a part of your group. You walked with them, you served them food, you chatted. You played Flip, smack-talked and fought over Phuong's cookies. For that week, we truly were a community and I can't help but hope my path crosses with our new friends again. And that I manage to get the mud out of my clothes from when I didn't quite manage to step lightly enough.  -- Rebecca Viser