Time and Space

 Places of rest and refreshment

Places of rest and refreshment are found
sometimes where we least expect them.
In the midst of the chaos of life
when we’re too burdened to lift our heads.

God may throw a stone in our path
over which we stumble upon new vision:
O God, help us to see these stones
as objects of blessing, not of cursing.

Guide our steps through the doors
where a welcome and shared bread awaits,
and help us provide such refreshment
for others you place in our lives.

Yvonne Morland, from 50 New Prayers from the Iona Community

I've heard people say there is something special about this island and there is no doubt that it is true.   The pace of life seems slower and this time of living in community with over forty other participants as well as about thirty staff and volunteers is intended to stretch you.

We were asked to consider two things

What do you hope for from this week?

What will be your greatest challenge?

The second question was a very easy answer for me.  Sharing a room with three other people and common washrooms is a bit more than a stretch for me and lands me in complete discomfort.  My DH remarked that I was going to be greatly challenged and stretched.  I replied but only for six nights and I'm going right back to my comfort zone!

Despite this challenge it is good to be here.  To experience the worship in the Abbey church, to meet new people and hear their stories, to walk the narrow streets and enjoy the feel of the village, to sit by the ocean and smell the north Atlantic salt air and shiver in the cool breeze.

Sunday is a Sabbath day here and we are left very much to our own devices if we so choose.  I so chose and wandered around, window shopped in the local stores, checked out the Iona gift store and didn't see any resources that I don't already own!  And had a quiet day.  The week is aptly called Time and Space and there is lots of both to enjoy.

Ruins of the old nunnery

The old burial chapel where it is said Macbeth is buried in the cemetery 

A local parish church in the village

And let's not forget, highland coos!!

Onwards to Iona

 

Destination --Iona.  After a ferry ride from Oban to Mull, a wait for the local bus we arrived at the next dock for the ferry to Iona.  It was the shortest journey yet!

Some of the sites along the way to Mull

An old Castle fourth century I believe someone said

The lady was all rolling Hills as we journeyed by bus to Iona.  The roads are very (let me emphasize VERY) narrow.  At times the bus pulled into  a lay by to allow another vehicle to go by, occasionally we had to back up and I never saw a guard rail anywhere.  Sheep, coos and fences but no guard rails!  Yes it was a bit nerve racking at times but I assured myself it was not the driver's first time over the road.

First glimpse of Iona

The Abbey

We strolled from wharf where the ferry docked to the Abbey where hot tea awaited and we were told about how we'd be living in community, assigned rooms and tasks.

First impression is the peacefulness, it is a special place to just be.

A glimpse of Oban

...and flights, taxis, train rides and walks.

As many of you know I love reading messages on signs.  This was one that I saw today as I wandered around Oban and explored the little town.

It is a beautiful setting with islands off its coast, a gentle breeze and a hill that would qualify as a mountain by Prairie standards!  All the walking I do on the prairie flat ground told me I had forgotten how to climb those hills like I was used to in my home province.  How embarrassing!!

Google top ten said one of the things that one should do was visit McCaig's Tower.  And never let it be said that I do not explore those top ten items.

It was close to my accommodation for tonight Google said four minutes but it did not say up, up, up a steep hill.  I trudged along and the view was definitely worth it.

The rest of Oban I'm saving for next week when I return from Iona.  The distillery is top on my list as well as the other eight things that Google recommends.  Oh and I think I need an highland coo, they are too cute and unfortunately too big for my carry on!

Until tomorrow dear readers and my next adventure. I'm hoping for smooth waters as we slip the moorings to set sail in the morning.

Glasgow -- City of Murals

 

My blog aptly named paths to explore sees me on yet another journey, this one is solo with my DH left at home.  Glasgow, Scotland was my first stop and as I write I am sitting on a train heading to Oban.  Final stop will be Iona for a week!  So my Sabbatical journey continues seeking and exploring Time and Space.  More like rest and refreshment at this stage!

But Glasgow.  My stay was brief merely an early arrival and an overnight.  My travel agent planned my location and my hotel was right next door to the train station that I needed this morning so no getting lost for that one.  

Exploring the city, at least a very tiny part of it had me wandering the streets with map in hand.  Despite the map, as most of my readers know by now, I can still manage to go a bit off track as I explore!  It was no different in Glasgow.  The hotel offered a hop on hop off map.  I skipped the bus and followed the route...a bit.  Since it was late in the day when I started wandering, after my red eye flight from Canada and I had an early check in and nap, I did not get to many locations that the map marked.  But I did manage a few of the murals and the Cathedral.

The cab driver had warned that Glasgow has changed, crime is up, social concerns have risen and drugs are an issue.  So as my DH reminds me frequently I am not in rural Newfoundland now where you don't worry about safety, robbery or mugging!  But I still wander.

The few murals that I did manage to find on my own (there is a tour offered) were magnificent.  The one at the top of the blog I nearly missed as I walked right alongside of it.  A simple glance and it caught my eye which meant I needed to cross the street to snap the photo.   It cites Article 31 of the United Nations and boldly proclaimed The Future is Ours.  It was near the University so aptly placed and just after I saw the sign....ready for it- Destiny Bible College.  I laughed when I saw the name and I did not explore it further!

There were other murals as I made my way to the Cathedral beautiful and unexplained such as this one.

Cult of St. Enoch

And more self explanatory when you see one like this

Beautiful art work displayed freely for pure enjoyment.  Sadly I only found the three in my wanderings.

The city as is true for most that I have been fortunate to visit has beautiful worn stone where so many others have gone before as well as beautiful architecture to admire.  

The old Cathedral, as only those structures can be was breathtaking and I was fortunate to make the final viewing of the day.

It was quiet and prayerful both inside and out.  No services were offered, I checked,  outside of regular Sunday worship.  

After visiting here I meandered back to the city centre where I was staying, found a lovely spot for dinner--The Citizen with an attentive server, had dinner with my DH via WhatsApp and called it an evening.  Now onward to Oban and enjoying my train ride and the scenery.

Meditation and Meaningfulness

 

Meditation has been a part of my life since I was about 12 and the health teacher introduced the full body relaxation...you begin at your toes and work up the body.  An exercise to help one relax and sleep.  The reason a teenager needed that is a longer story and not needed for here.  Although I will say that I still use this one on occasion.   There are many ways that you can meditate and what works for me may not work for you, it can be deeply personal or far more open.

As part of my Sabbatical I decided to try something completely different. I will confess that it's not something that particularly interested me but since you should always try something new I thought I'd give it a go and enrolled in an online Icon Writing course.    Now meditation is my thing, but I would not have said icons were.  I admire them, appreciate the artwork but have ever needed to bring one home! I've also never held a paint brush (except to paint walls, fences etc) never learned brush stokes.   The learning curve was steep, at least in my mind.

All materials had to be sourced, most weren't locally  available and took some tracking down.  The school was super helpful.  Learning to make egg tempura and mixing pigments sometimes brought me to despair and the instructor assured us all that it was not an exact science,  after all what is one brush of egg? Pigment? It all depends on the size of that brush and how much it holds.  Patience became key!

Patience was necessary every step of the way for the brush strokes that the instructor made look so easy.  For the layer upon layer of paint that was carefully added. Patience as each layer dried and meditate while doing the strokes, waiting, repeating the process for several hours each day.  Ten sessions and no it wasn't a mere ten days.  Each layer and colour required a minimum of five layers, thinner layers were the goal. It was a slow layering process. Ideally you remember to change the direction of the stokes each time.  As you layer you introduce lighter colours for the contrast and shadows with the area getting smaller and smaller to layer (we won't discuss the eyes).  And if you messed up, well the instructor assured you could just redo the area and try again.  Another layer will fix it....yes indeed it does.

The process required quiet space for several hours each session, focus, meditative strokes of the brush, care, waiting, lots and lots of waiting quietly for a layer to dry, for glue to be just right for the gold leafing and meditative music playing in the background. 

The world kept moving.  Life kept happening but for those few hours every day all was quiet in my world and my life as bells rang, kyries were sung and layers were built.  The quietness of the exercise brought excitement to see my imperfect finished product and a quietness to my days as I slowly worked toward that goal.  Is it perfect, definitely not but it is a process with no exact time, no exact measurement. It  requires you to rely on feel and look and wait as opposed to too soon.  An exercise in patience and a new appreciation for the writing and the message of an icon. 

My apologies for not taking pictures every step of the way.  I was too busy practicing and holding the moment instead of the photo. 

The Journey Began

 

My journey began some weeks ago for my education break and sabbatical.  I had certainly intended to blog more regularly for those that wanted to follow along so now it is catch up time and then hopefully keep it more current to near the end of the sabbatical.  

I began with a wedding!  I had promised a young person last year that if I was around Manitoba this summer I would be honored to do the wedding for her and her partner.  As luck should have it the wedding was scheduled for the day before I hit the road to join my DH in Ontario.  The wedding was a beautiful celebration of their love surrounded by family and friends and I was pleased to be able to be a part of their day. (Sorry no pictures, I didn't get permission to include them here although I do have a few from the lovely couple)

      

The following morning, the car was already packed, I walked my boys and got them in the car and we were off for our first day of driving.  I had planned for an approximately eight hour driving day, plus or minus the breaks.  Now for those who do not know, my boys are Golden Retrievers.  I knew they liked to go in the car as it is a fairly regular occurrence for them but what I did not know was how the two of them would do for eight hours or how well they would share the back seat for that length of time and if it remained incredibly hot how we would manage the car temperature.  I also had the added variable that I would have to walk, water and feed them on the road in areas that would have lots of new smells and people and that would be incredibly exciting for them.  Let me say these two were superstars!  They shared the backseat, sometimes lying side by side, other times with one or the other hogging the space and the other had to sit up in a smaller area.  The weather on the drive remained cool, never above 12 degrees outside and like an ice house in my car (yes I constantly wore a sweater and occasionally wished for a warm jacket). The temperatures in Winnipeg had been very hot before I was going on the road so the heat was a big concern.  I also had a portable car fan for the boys just in case it was unbearably hot.  Yes, I had planned for many contingencies!

The other piece of these travels was how well these two would do in the hotel room.  New smells, new noises a completely different environment and all that was required were their commands, leave it may well have been overused along with enough. The first night was in a hotel with super thin walls so that not only did these goldens hear every noise but so did my human hearing!  The second hotel was much more successful! And these two appreciated the king sized bed that we could all share!   All in all we had no issues and with Barak Obama in the passenger seat reading his book Promised Land to me as we drove the days and the kilometers just slipped by and before we knew it I was in multiple lanes of traffic heading to Mississauga and with the help of the GPS I only made two incorrect detours in rush hour traffic.  Let me say the drivers here are crazy, and I mean that in the nicest possible way.  My DH was happy to greet us and we were all happy to get out of the car at the end of that third day.  

The boys soon settled into apartment living and when they were settled I packed up again, caught a flight and headed east to Newfoundland to enjoy the time and space as well as smell the North Atlantic and enjoy the seasonal cuisine - aka lobster.  While the weather was a little less than desirable with lots of fog -- did I say there was fog -- it did not prevent a few visits as well as a trip to walk along the local beach.  Now I thought it was chilly but there were two young people up to their necks in the ocean and I can assure you that it was neither a hot day nor warm water.  And as I admired their courage or foolishness depending on how you took it, all I could remember was when my friends and I had been equally fool hardy and out in that same freezing cold water, up to our necks and somehow did not feel the cold.  

The time and space to wander, reconnect with some friends (and my apologies to those that I missed) to see family and meet one new member and spend time with my great niece and her mom were treasured moments and a lovely way to begin my sabbatical of time and space