15 May 2011
Where to begin? One blog post cannot contain all my thoughts and feelings about my time on Iona, so this will be part 1...
This was my second Pilgrimage to Iona and I found the experience quite different. Iona was gifted to me. It was the place I needed most, but didn't know it until I arrived.
The first week was titled "Matter Matters" and I was very distracted by outside forces...one of which being Iona herself. It was so different than any place I'd been before. Beautiful and quiet. I didn't quite know what to do with all that quiet. Add to that a few personal dramas etc...and it was quite a week!
It was the last week of October and everything was getting ready to turn in for the winter. Including me. Very contemplative and cocoon-like.
One of the first things I saw, was a basket full of heart shaped stones, in the shop, with the words "Trust" and "Love" carved into them...
I think those words sum up my Iona experiences quite well.
This trip was Springtime! Both in nature and in Spirit. I feel like everything is being born anew in my life. Very light-filled and more extroverted. I suppose I've come out of the cocoon.
It makes so much sense that the week was called "Pilgrimage for Change."
Internal struggle seems to always be a theme, but since Iona strips away a lot of the outside world, you can really zero in on what's at your heart center. It never ends up being what you expect...
My word for this week was "direction." I put it out there and hoped to God that it would be answered.
I was asked, "With Whom will I stand"
I heard, "The Creatures" as we walked past sheep and lambs and cows (and the land itself is a wild creature indeed).
I was asked, "What will Save You?"
I heard, "Scotland has saved you..."
I think that's true.
XO