pat loughery

Monday – Day 3

On Monday, we packed for our flight from Belfast to Glasgow. It was at this point that I realized how greatly I had over packed: in addition to my usual backpack with books (exercising great restraint, I only had brought my journal, two books for class that I hadn’t yet read, my Bible Celtic Daily Prayer), laptop computer, iPod and cables, and another bag for my camera equipment – again, exercising great restraint, I only brought a portable camera, my main digital SLR and five lenses, two external hard drives for storage, and various chargers.

And 12 days’ worth of clothes.

I hadn’t realized that we would have laundry service availability, so I had packed a suitcase with everything I would need for a 12-day trip. It was a massive collection. On the trip east, I had exceeded the airlines’ 50lb weight limit for my main bag by 18 pounds. A heavy camera lens, well padded in that suitcase, with the main books had caused most of that problem, but still… when we were told that we could carry on one bag, and we had a fifty pound weight limit in baggage for the hold, I was very worried. I gave away some of my clothes, magazines and other items. Still I had too many things, but I entered the airport with what I had. I checked my laptop bag and suitcase (leaving the laptop in my bag, which wasn’t a wise choice), and carried my photo equipment (which was a wise choice). My main bag had dieted down from 68 lbs to 53 lbs, which was apparently close enough for this ticket agent.

However, I knew that I was likely to buy more books on the trip – an addiction – and perhaps even gifts for my family, so this was an ongoing concern, as well as a reason for my fellow students to laugh at me – justifiably – for carrying so much luggage. I carried nearly as much luggage as the three person Lamb family. I hope to mitigate this taunting as they see some of the photo results which all this gear gains me, however. Time will tell. I can only hope.

I suspect that my luggage skills will become the defining item for many of them, perhaps even trumping the hilarity that some of them found in my self-description on the opening night as being interested in Celtic Christianity partly because of the story of Pelagius, who lost political battles with Augustine over the issue of inherited sin. I can’t be a good 5-point Calvinist because I can’t really make it past part ‘T’, which asserts that humanity is born in a totally depraved state, absent the image of God, until we choose to follow him. Pelagius argued that the entire creation, including humanity, is born with the spark of the divine, and even though humans are bent and tempted towards sin, in the eye of a newborn child can be seen the goodness of God. Church history records that Augustine, after two unsuccessful attempts via the Pope to excommunicate Pelagius for this belief, went over the pope’s head to the Emperor and succeeded. History also indicates, with a little digging, that Pelagius didn’t believe much of what Augustine wrote that he believed.

Several people made gentle fun of my temptation to “heresy”, which was entertained by, especially as the character and theology of Pelagius continued to be described in the Trail.

So, in conclusion, I’d rather be known as an over packer than as a heretic.

Our bus from Glasgow airport took us through the scenic town of Luss, home of St. Kessog, where we met with Dane Sherrard. Dr. Sherrard is a fascinating person who has with great foresight turned a sleepy village parish into a technologically rich pilgrimage. His church has celebrated 1500 years of continual worship, the longest in all of Scotland. Dane led us on a fascinating discussion of Scottish history, Celtic stories and his mission of turning the hundreds of thousands – 750,000 visit Luss annually for its scenic beauty and historical significance – into spiritual pilgrims.

Dane has created an pilgrimage center with internet feeds, television and video production; the church now offers video feeds of weddings, church services and a television production, in an ever-evolving and highly creative ministry. I found myself wondering why the Church of Scotland would let such an imaginative, captivating teacher with fantastic ideas and effectiveness continue to minister in a small place like Luss. For pilgrims to this location, this is a wonderful assignment. I wonder what Dane would do in the cities of Edinburgh or Glasgow, for example.

One of the most interesting conversations we had here was with the warden of the facility, a retired British Navy officer who had commanded nuclear submarines and loved to tell stories. When his official welcoming time was done and several American students pulled him aside for stories, he described Colin Powell as “a genuinely good man”, Dick Chaney as “a total asshole, and I didn’t much like his wife either”, and had several fascinating tales of his time evading Soviet submarines and submarine hunters.

On a tour through the area, Dane described how he gets such incredible help in restoring buildings, moving large facilities around, build bridges across his rive and other huge efforts. He gave us a quite which I will paraphrase here:

“People are dying to help the Christian church to do good things.”

I prayed the midday prayer from Celtic Daily Prayer in the bus alongside Loch Lomond as the bus moved toward Glasgow. The resonance between the honor of nature in Celtic Daily Prayer and the Scottish lake country was profound.

The bus took us to Oban, where we would stay for two nights, sandwiched by a trip to the island of Iona. On the way, Jock Stein gave us an overview of what we would experience there.

The island of Iona was a gift to St. Columba by a grateful Pictish king in the year 563 and was home to a monastery and mission house, receiving visitors with hospitality. Over the years it became home to a Benedictine cloister of nuns, and was abandoned after the Reformation. In 1938, George MacLeod established on the island a community which seeks to practice Celtic spirituality not just on the island but in the cities as well.

Oban was a beautiful city, much larger than I expected it to be, and very touristy. Our dinner in Oban was delicious, with some of the best bread I’ve ever enjoyed. We also had some post-dinner exercise, as our bus lost its reverse gear in the transmission, and a large group of people had to push the bus up a hill so that it could straighten up and leave the parking lot. It felt good to work my muscles after several days of working my brain.

I joined several students in visiting a little pub and enjoyed a pint of McEwen’s 80 ale and a discussion about our theologies of heaven, and my standard question of what the message of the gospel is (and how it might be different between Jesus and Paul)..