Monthly Message (September 2007) - Iona Community

Dear Friends,

Turning the diary page, after the all too fleeting month of August, to find the days of September already well planned, is a reminder of how busy we urban Christians can become. Autumn brings regular patterns of work, school, busyness ....and the rhythms of the Christian year. Picking up threads, returning to work in progress, keeping the engine ticking over, thinking ahead and taking new initiatives .... All of these will soon have us running around and fitting in more than we thought possible.

This summer a group of 16 people, 15 from our church and one from Westbury-on-Trym Parish Church, made the pilgrimage to the west coast of Scotland to live in the lona Community for a week. It was very beautiful and we were blessed with good weather, good people to share the week with and the rich rhythmic life of worship and community. It was a wonderful experience .... the fruits of which will take time to unfold in ordinary life. But here are a few thoughts to share now .....

The thing I discovered most I think was that stillness is so hard to find and yet so important to our wellbeing. There is a certain richness in taking the time to notice and live in the present moment. Time to let go of the things that have past and cannot be changed, to hold lightly the things to come that cannot yet be shaped or influenced, and to live now, looking for the person God makes you and enables you to be in the present. Such stillness does not have to wait until there is a spare moment either. Although a remote island, lona is a busy place and we often found ourselves hurrying to the next activity or having to choose where to be. The stillness rather comes from within, from the noticing and valuing of all life - laying the table and noticing the people you share the task with, learning new songs and hearing the rich harmonies that are possible when voices want to sing, talking, walking, gardening, cleaning, dancing, painting, weaving, moving chairs ..... and taking a moment to say 'this is good - and God is here.'

In those present moments of stillness there comes an opportunity to be in-touch with the person God has made you to be ... and recognise the God who is at work in you to heal and renew the often broken life of the world. Stillness in the present moment is where we find the energy for living, for sorting out the really precious things, and choosing the path upon which we will travel with integrity.

The singing at worship in lona Abbey was wonderful. Often singing a brand new song in three or four harmonising parts it felt very exciting ... it felt like these were the people of God reaching out from deep within them to express a thankfulness for life that had to be shared.

The 'spirit' of the lona community is deeply planted in convictions about sharing. Sharing with the immediate neighbours that you see day in day out..... and with the poor, the struggling, the broken people of the global village in which we live. There seems to be a question that hangs in the air ..... about the Christian calling to be responsible for what you give, for what you receive or take, and for what and how you share .... a question that makes a difference as it echoes in the stillness of the present moment.

Our return journey took us to Glasgow for an overnight stop - where the noise, busyness, air pollution and bustle of the city was a shock! But coming back is a vital part of a pilgrimage .... God's gifts are given for the good of all people and the world we share. I hope that in the coming months the treasures of this pilgrimage will unfold to serve and enrich our shared living in community with each other in God's world.

Yours,

Tracey.