Living in Community

At the Iona Abbey orientation session on Saturday we were all told to bring to mind all of the expectations we had for the week. We were then told to let go of them. This was easy for me because I hadn’t framed any expectations – I came only with an openness to be present in each moment of the week. Iona is structured on community living; the community living is centered on eating, chores, and worship; there are other activities, but they all hang from these three.

The groups that reside at the Abbey are broken into three groups: the Otters, the Puffins, and the Seals. They apparently have some mysterious way of type-casting folks into these groups, as I was put into the Otters [an animal which I have identified with for scores of years], who are responsible for making breakfast happen properly. In addition to table preparation and food serving/clearing duties, I am on food chopping duty, which I love. Jane was included in the Seals who are responsible for dinner activities. If Rich Goodwin ever visits Iona I suspect they’ll make him a Puffin. The work is not burdensome, and time flies by as I get to talk with other Otters.

One of the things the Iona Community has consciously striven for is to create and locate music that is easy and enjoyable to sing. They receive high grades for what they have done. I will be bringing back a hymnal with gems like:

“When the hungry who have nothing share with strangers;

When the thirsty give such water as they have;

When in weakness we lend strength to one another;

God goes with us on the pathways of our lives.

God goes with us on the pathways of our lives.”

Before scripture is read we chant, sometimes in a round:

“Listen to the word which God has spoken;

listen to the One who is close at hand;

listen to the voice behind creation;

listen even if you don’t understand.”

I hope we can find times and ways to incorporate these in our Grace Church worship.

I was honored that Laura Stone, the Iona Community music director [I'm not sure of or if she has a formal title] asked if I would sing a solo at a morning worship service. Singing in the Abbey was a "thin space" of activity rather than place for me, and goose bumps rise even now as I write about the experience. The acoustics in the Abbey are incredible and cover all manner of musical mistake.

There are several grave markers in the graveyard adjacent to the Abbey that mark the graves of unknown merchant navy sailors who lost their lives in World War II. When I look out at the enormous sky and sea here I think of all of how many lives have been affected by it in so many different ways, good and bad. There is a monument to Iona men who died in World War I. the sheer number of names gives you pause when you realize how tiny this island is and how small its population has always been.

I climbed Dun I whilst Jane was at a craft event. You can see the Abbey in a different context than the close up pictures. There is a picture of the Abbey Church where we worship. It has magnificent acoustics.

So far I have faithfully been living in the moment, and my spirit is the better for it.