Here’s the first installment:  Will Freeman and the Wilderness

So what does ‘back to Egypt’ mean for us?  How far back, back to the so called ‘Golden Age’ of the Victorians who built far too many churches for their own good, and then sometimes to quite a poor standard?  The endless streetwalking and door knocking seemed to have had very little effect in getting people to go to church.  There was a lot of activity, but in reality the legacy was of redundant buildings and overly organised groups of people.

Ok, then further back, perhaps to the medieval period, no heating, cloths on the windows, confession on saturday to receive communion on sunday??

Neither of these is particularly interesting or inviting.  There is, however, a gleam of hope in this ‘back to Egypt’ malarky, it comes in the form of the style of churches and religious observance which was around in the middle-ages.  Large monasteries were dotted around the country, some wealthy towns could afford to support a Priest, but not many.  Religious observance was far less than it is today, but, when there were festivals on, most people turned out.   They would travel to the large monasteries and cathedrals for whit, lamas, harvest, christmas, easter.  These festivals were the people’s religion.  The small communities of monks and religiously minded people would organise the festivals for the people, they would also in some cases be land owners and would provide employment and food for the people in their neighbourhood.

There are many things about the middle-ages that would not be welcome today, but the principle of a smallish community providing for the surrounding area, in both spiritual and edible food is worth returning to, at least to give it some thought.  It would stop the constant bickering over bums on pews, and focus the attention on practical tasks.  It would also draw a community together rather than dispersing it, I love the idea at the end of the morning service on Iona that there is no amen.  Standing for the closing responses people are encouraged to go straight out into the common tasks for that day, to serve one another in all manner of community minded activity!

(this comes with a nod towards Graeme Smith and his book ‘A Short History of Secularism’)

Getting up at stupid o’clock to catch the early train to Crewe was not my idea of fun, neither was lugging 150 willow whips on a trolley 2 miles through Cardiff at 3.30am but these things had to be endured for the sake of the students who would be on Iona.

Many amusing conversations later, (mainly around the willow trolley!) I arrived in Oban, met up with old friends and settled into the quiet life. You may not think of Oban as quiet, a busy harbour and port to the Hebridean islands, but the quiet life it most certainly is. Time runs at a different pace there, the further out to sea you go the slower it gets and the slow pace of island life infects the port.

Two American tourists found out to their amazement once when boarding a bus on Mull that there really is no need to hurry and certainly no need to fret! They had put their rather sumptuous cases at the back of the bus where the driver was loading them into the belly of the elderly coach and were standing watching them earnestly as the driver loaded other boxes and bags. ‘Yer in Scotlan noo, nay need tae bother bout tha, you think folk ar gonnnae wan yer bags?’ came the brusque island voice admonishing the tourists. I still wonder if they ever got the point!

www.iona.org.uk