Dear Rose Park,
By the time you’re reading this on Wednesday morning, Lord willing, I will be arriving to the Isle of Iona in Scotland. Iona is a tiny island off the southwest coast of Mull in the Inner Hebrides. It is only 1.5 miles wide by 3 miles long, with a population of around 170 permanent residents. Despite it’s small stature it has one of the coolest nicknames I’ve ever heard; Iona is known as ‘the Cradle of Christianity’ in Scotland.
According to local historical sources, St. Columba and 12 companions came to Iona from Ireland in AD 563. The monastery they founded was one of the most important and influential in the British Isles. Though Iona is an extremely remote island, it was at the center of the life of the Irish Church, as it was easily accessible by boat from mainland Ireland and Scotland. Iona became an internationally renowned center of spirituality, learning and art and remains to be an importance place of spiritual pilgrimage today.
As Christians in 2023 in western culture, the idea of a pilgrimage seems foreign and distant to us. However, this dynamic movement is at the very center of Christianity. Abraham was a pilgrim when he left his own town to obey God in search of the land God promised him. The Israelites were on a pilgrimage of exodus as they left Egypt and made their way towards Canaan. Jerusalem became a center of pilgrimage as it played host for several major feasts and festivals for the people of God.
A pilgrim moves slowly and patiently towards a destination, while a wanderer moves aimlessly about without purpose. Christians are called to be pilgrims, ones who patiently and slowly move towards their loving Savior who is always moving towards them. I’m hopeful to be reminded of the dynamic of pilgrimage while I’m in Iona. I’m hopeful to slowly and faithfully continue taking steps towards God; these steps don’t happen in either a fictitious or grand way, instead they happen in the here and now in the ordinary events of life.
We pilgrimage towards God in the way we regularly worship, care for our children, treat our spouses, listen to our parents, and support our friends. We pilgrimage to God in a Monday morning staff meeting and at volleyball practice on the weekends. This is all to say, you don’t have to leave the country to begin a pilgrimage, you simply need to be receptive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit and be willing to take the first step.
So, whether you’re traveling the historical hills of Iona or the beautiful shoreline of Holland, might you be willing to join the pilgrimage and be drawn closer to each other as we’re drawn closer to Him.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark
Photo by Gunnar Ridderström on Unsplash