Cold and Wet in Iona

Stacey and I went to Iona last week. It took us nine hours, three trains, two busses, and two ferries to get there. As such, it really felt like a proper pilgrimage. I asked Stacey if she wanted to kiss the ground when we stepped off the ferry onto Iona, but she wasn't interested.

Though the trip was long, it was enjoyable. The west coast of Scotland between Glasgow and Oban was incredibly beautiful. Most of the mountains were snow capped with evergreen and birch trees in the lower altitudes. The ferry ride from Oban to Mull was also very nice.

On Iona, we stayed at the Argyll Hotel (www.argyllhoteliona.co.uk). Being the off-season, it was the only hotel that was open on the island and it housed the only restaurant open on the island. But it was a great restaurant. Even the Abbey wasn't fully open--which was a bit of a suprise to us.

I expected Iona to be a quasi-monastic community centered on formal daily worship in the Abbey (www.iona.org.uk). Instead, I was suprised to find that most of the members of the community are not in residence and not much happens at the Abbey during the winter. Basically, the community (450 members) is out in the world doing their work--mostly for social justice. On Iona, the Abbey and the MacLeod Center function more as retreat centers (normally, but not exclusively, for members of the Church of Scotland). While the community is unlike anything I have ever known, the actual island centers are like what Montreat is to the American Presbyterian: a retreat and conference center.

I was also suprised to find out that only about half (according to our waitress) of the people living on Iona are affiliated with the community. There is a convenience store, a post office, a couple of hotels, a pub, a golf course (!) and Iona Primary School (The convenience store clerk told me that the kids go to high school in Oban which is 2.5 hours away. They leave on Monday and come back on Friday.). I was suprised by all of this because I expected to find a bunch of holy looking people in coarse, brown clothes chanting while they worked between the prayers of the day. But I'm glad it wasn't that way.

It was a beautiful and wonderful place. I'm glad that we went and I would love to return someday. When I do return, I will pack wellies, waterproof pants, and a good rain jacket. And my golf clubs.