Around a Thin Place. An Iona Pilgrimage Guide

179 Pages·2011·8.9 MB·English

by  Jane Bentley

For centuries pilgrims have travelled to the isle of Iona in search of the sacred,
inspired by the example of St Columba, a 6th-century Irish monk who founded a
monastery there, and whose influence is felt to the present day. Many modern-
day pilgrims and seekers are also drawn to the island through the work of the
Iona Community, an ecumenical Christian community acting for justice and
peace, the rebuilding of the common life and the renewal of worship.
The Iona Community runs a weekly pilgrimage around the island for those who
visit, pausing for reflection at places of spiritual and historical significance, and
at less obvious landmarks which offer inspiration for our daily lives and our
engagement with the wider world.
This book is a rich collection of readings, prayers, poems, photographs, songs,
stories and reflections. Island visitors and ‘armchair pilgrims’ alike are invited to
take a prayerful, perhaps life-changing, journey around what George MacLeod,
the Founder of the Iona Community, described as ‘a thin place – only a tissue
paper separating the material from the spiritual’.
Jane Bentley is a former member of the Iona Community’s Resident Group on
Iona and is a community musician. Neil Paynter is also a former member of the
Resident Group, and is the editor and author of many books, including This Is
the Day: Readings and Meditations from the Iona Community, Down to Earth:
Stories and Sketches, and Iona: Images and Reflections (Wild Goose
Publications).
www.ionabooks.com

Copyright © 2011 Jane Bentley & Neil Paynter
First published 2011 by
Wild Goose Publications,
4th Floor, Savoy House, 140 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow G2 3DH, UK.
Wild Goose Publications is the publishing division of the Iona Community.
Scottish Charity No. SC003794. Limited Company Reg. No. SC096243.
www.ionabooks.com
ePub: ISBN 978-1-84952-198-7
Mobipocket: ISBN 978-1-84952-200-7
PDF: ISBN 978-1-84952-199-4
Cover photo © Anja Grosse-Uhlmann
The publishers gratefully acknowledge the support of the Drummond Trust, 3 Pitt Terrace, Stirling FK8
2EY in producing this book.
All rights reserved. Apart from reasonable personal use on the purchaser’s own
system and related devices, no part of this document or file(s) may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
Non-commercial use:
The material in this book may be used non-commercially for worship and group
work without written permission from the publisher. Please make full
acknowledgement of the source, e.g. © [author’s name] from Around a Thin
Place, by Jane Bentley & Neil Paynter, published by Wild Goose Publications,
Glasgow, UK. Where a large number of copies are made, a donation may be
made to the Iona Community via Wild Goose Publications, but this is not
obligatory.
For any commercial use of the contents of this book, written permission must be
obtained from the publisher in advance.
Jane Bentley & Neil Paynter have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1998
to be identified as the authors of this collection.
CONTENTS
Introduction
How to use this book
A note about safety
Map of Iona
The off-road pilgrimage
The on-road pilgrimage
A pilgrimage in haiku
Songs
Notes, sources and acknowledgements
Outside holiness
Bibliography
Photo credits

INTRODUCTION
For centuries, millennia even, Iona has drawn travellers to it in search of the
sacred. This quest for the holy runs as a common thread all the way from ancient
times to the 6th-century voyage of Saint Columba – and to today’s pilgrims who
arrive on the jetty from every corner of the world. George MacLeod, the Founder
of the Iona Community, described the island as a ‘thin place’ – only a ‘tissue
paper’ separating the material from the spiritual.
The Iona Community has for many years run a weekly pilgrimage around the
island, stopping at places of significance – be they historical, religious, or simply
thought-provoking. The Iona Community’s witness of perceiving a close
connection between the spiritual and the material is reflected in the pilgrimage:
one stop may take prayerful inspiration from Columban times, while another
highlights the struggle for justice and peace in the developing world.
The pilgrimage is led by staff from the Abbey and MacLeod Centre, and is never
the same twice. Each person brings their own unique understanding and
perspective. Lurking in the Community office is a battered ring-binder
representing the contributions of past pilgrimage leaders – packed to
overflowing with prayers and poems, either copied or self-penned, songs,
historical titbits, reflections and stories. It has been the direct inspiration for this
book.
Our hope is that in collating some of these resources, they will offer inspiration
and reflective possibilities not only for those who seek to conduct their own
pilgrimages around the island, but also for ‘armchair pilgrims’ who may not be
able to visit Iona in person. We’ve even included the Abbey kitchen’s recipe for
flapjack (delivered to the Machair with a hot cup of tea on pilgrimage days) – if
you want to really recreate the experience!

How to use this book
Just as the original ring-binder is a work in progress, this book is offered as a
menu of possibilities, rather than as a definitive guide. For each stop we have
included an introduction giving some background to the stop, followed by a
Bible reading, some additional resources such as reflections, poems and prayers,
and suggestions for songs. It would certainly become a penitential pilgrimage if
all of these resources were used at each stop – please simply pick what is useful
for you.
We have also included a blank page after the stops, so that you can continue the
‘work in progress’ by adding your own pilgrimage inspirations. These might be
in the form of prayers, pictures, jotted thoughts, stories, memories … Pat
Bennett, a member of the Iona Community who has been on many a pilgrimage,
offers the following idea:
Whilst on assorted pilgrimages through Japan in the 17th century, the Zen monk
Matsuo Basho distilled the essence of what he saw, smelled and touched, the
conversations and encounters of his journeys, and the deeper mysteries he
sensed through all of these, into various poetic forms. Whilst writing haiku (a
three-line poem of 5, 7 and 5 syllables respectively) is not necessarily everyone’s
forte, I’ve found that the process of trying to identify and articulate a key
element from each of the stops en route around the island can be a really helpful
way of focussing my thoughts, and of translating the pilgrimage experience from
being merely(!) a very enjoyable and informative amble round the island, into a
richly rewarding and sometimes life-changing journey. At each stopping place, I
try to pick up one thing – maybe a phrase or a particular image – from the
talk/meditation/prayer that is offered, and then, for at least part of the walk to
the next station, turn it over in my mind and search for the heart of it. There
seems to be something about the rhythm of walking itself which is very conducive
to this sort of rumination. I’ll try (or at least begin) to compose and scribble
down a short prayer or meditation, a single sentence or maybe even a haiku, to
capture and contain this insight so that I can remember it and return to it later
for further thought.
A series of Pat’s reflective Iona haiku can be found on page 166.
A note about safety
There are two pilgrimages described in this book – the ‘off-road’ and the ‘on-
road’. The off-road pilgrimage is a walk of nearly seven miles over boggy and
rocky terrain. Strong footwear and waterproof clothing are essential, along with
food and drink for the journey. We have included a map, but have left it very
basic to encourage you to travel with a proper, detailed map – people have lost
their lives by simply heading off to explore the island, and even broken limbs
may require a helicopter airlift to hospital in Glasgow – not the best way to
remember Iona. Even pilgrimage leaders can get lost – as Brian Woodcock
describes on page 51.
Not everyone has the mobility to be able to undertake such a journey, and it is
not intended as a form of penance! Some years ago, the weekly pilgrimages were
returning hours late, as increasingly infirm participants engaged in heroic
struggles to complete the walk. We also had to continually disappoint people
who turned up in more ‘urban’ footwear, which would not allow them to walk in
safety. To this end, the on-road pilgrimage was devised to allow as many people
as possible to participate and still feel part of a real pilgrimage. This forms the
second half of this book, and includes many of the stops from the off-road
pilgrimage (which are referenced by page number).
At the time of printing, the Iona Community runs both pilgrimages on a Tuesday.
They are open to the public, with the off-road version departing at roughly
10.15am, and the on-road at noon. See www.iona.org.uk for the Iona
Community’s contact details.
Blessed journeys!