Leaving Lindisfarne: St Aidan as guide

At the end of our retreat we were invited to 'throw an image out into the future to guide us' (Carl Jung) 

I had been working on a pastel sketch, so this became my image -  St Aidan to guide me (based on the Statue in the grounds of St. Mary the Virgin, next to the Priory)  
I've taken the 4 headings from Ray Simpson's booklet: Give yourself a (Re)treat on Lindisfarne   St Aidan Press 1998) section 2 'figure out St Aidan'

 

1 the face - gentle, humble, winsome, of stature and vision

his personality and character - described by Bede as a man of 'peace and love, purity and humility'
He was called by Bishop Lightfoot of Durham ' The Apostle of England' 

2 the torch - a passion to pass on faith to everyone one meets

He set up schools for court members and freed slaves, trtaininig indigenous priests; mission stations which were local focused and led, scriptorium producing books and churches ....... 

3 the staff - a shepherd's faithfulness
  
he preferred to walk so he was at the same level as ordinary folk and could easily talk to them.  He also used his priestly authority (symbolised by the staff) to check the proud and powerful, he tenderly comforted the sick, he relieved and protected the poor....  
 
4  the cross - a protecting and encircling shield at one's back

The Celtic Cross 'The circle is the world made one in the cross of Christ. The cross is not just for the church but for the whole world'
  
Aidan left behind churches in Essex (St Peters Beadwell-on-sea); Lashingham in N Yorks  and his disciples traveled far and wide : Wilfred to the South Saxons of Sussex, Holland and Belgium; Hilda of Whitby; Chad - bishop of Mercia, Lindsay of Litchfield, Wilfred & the Abbey of Hexham and Rippon 

Leaving Lindisfarne: 
  

'God of our Pilgrimage you have fed us with the bread of heaven. 
Refresh and sustain us as we go forth on our journey'

Leave me alone with God 

as much as may be. 

As the tide draws the waters

 close in upon the shore 

make me an island, set apart, 

alone with you, God , holy to you.

Then with the turning of the tide

prepare me to carry our presence

to the busy world beyond, 

the world that rushes in on me

til the waters come again

and fold me back to you

Prayer of St Aidan of Lindisfarne

Lindisfarne: where heaven & earth are one

 I've just been on retreat with Rachel on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, staying with the Community of St Aidan and St Hilda at the Open Gate Retreat House.  The weekend was all about the Enneagram which is another story. But the place offered the opportunity to step back and reflect.  

The following are bits and pieces, quotes and prayer I copied into my journal (I can't remember where they came from), which spoke to me......

Do all journeys begin with a question? Out here on the sandy flats, deserts of water and sky, everything seemed open to question   

  

I came across this poem/ prayer called Holy Island by David Adams: 

God calls you out from where you are

God calls you from your safety and security

Come!  

Come to the Borderlands where the sea meets sky

Come to the edge where earth meets sea

Come!  

Come where two worlds meet

Come and discover that heaven and earth are one

Come!  

You are children of the way

You have a road to travel

Come!  

You need a Holy Island

A holy place that makes all places holy

Come!  

You have a rendezvous to make

A meeting place to find

Come!  

Listen to the waves and the murmurs of God

Be moved by the wind, ad the calling of God

Come!  

Let walking become your prayer

Let journeying be part of your song

Come!  

You may discover yourself

You may meet your own mysterious being

Come!  

Discover for yourself sacred space

Enter into the time, which is beyond time

Come!  

Then everything will be transformed

Come!  

It is God who calls you to step out

It is God who travels the road with you

Come!  

 "emptiness and an apparent uselessness are necessary conditions for an encounter with truth"

a 'holy wander': a meander past the harbour area and upturned boats, which look like a cross between a Hobbit hole & a garden shed -  to the National Trust Castle, an ancient exterior with an Edwardian interior. Along the coast to the Hide at Lough and the view of a peaceful 'swan' lake and then the obelisk besides the sea at Emmanuel Head - 'where sky meet sea and heaven meets earth';  along the pebbly beach of Sandham bay to the sand dunes; and back along Straight Lannes to the Village.   

'a swan floating by / a reed shaken by the wind / a moment of rest'

Pass on the flame:  

"May Christ be a bright star above us, 

a clear way before us, 

a warm fire within us"

St Aidan of Lindisfarne

Still Point

I visited the Lightbox in Woking earlier and saw an excellent installation: Still Point by Suki Chan, a Hong Kong artist.

You can read more about it on stillpointfilm.co.uk and here

Suki Chan’s new work, Still Point, is a film installation that engages with sacred spaces and places of pilgrimage.

"Whilst filming in sacred sites in Jerusalem, I was struck by how some parts of the city have two names, one in Hebrew and the other in Arabic. How one population can ‘unsee’ another group. How one part of the city is closed off to another group – by borders which are sometimes physical and sometimes psychological."

Still Point transports the audience from the site of the humble wooden structures offering refuge along Pilgrims’ Way in Northumberland, to contested sacred sites in Jerusalem, and the interior spaces of abandoned Syrian villages in the Golan Heights.

Have a look at the preview on Vimeo  Well worth it.......

It's based on the poem by T S Elliot   The Still Point in a turning world.   
I loved the 2 sacred:spaces visited:  Lindisfarne and Jerusalem... Holy Island and Holy City