pat loughery

Friday – Day 7

On our last full day together as a class, we went to Holy Island, Lindisfarne. Before the trip, I didn’t know much about Lindisfarne or the Christian community there. But along the way I had heard that we would probably find the Iona Community to be theologically liberal and social justice centered, and the Community of Aidan and Hilda to be more evangelical and charismatic. Since the latter is more my tendency as well, I thought this would be an interesting time.

Lindisfarne is a tidal island. The causeway that joins the island to the mainland is only visible at low tide, and as a result there is a rhythm to life on the island that is part of its history and its present.

On our arrival, we went directly to the Open Gate, the house of the Community of Aidan and Hilda. We were very warmly received by several members of the Community and had a lovely lunch, with some of the best tasting fruit I’ve ever had.

After lunch we had a session with Ray Simpson, then a break to walk around the island and another session with Ray.

Ray told us of the early history of Celtic monks in particular. He described early Celtic monasteries’ emphases on constant prayer, how they acted as schools, scriptoria (places where Scriptures were copied and decorated), places of great hospitality, and places where each monk had an anamchara, or soul friend.

The concept of soul friends were in the books that we had read in preparation for the trip, but this was the first time I can remember hearing about the topic on the trip. Ray described the necessity of anamchara this way: “a person without a soul friend is like a person without a head”. The soul-friend relationship is similar to spiritual direction, but more a peer relationship than a director and directee.

I wrote two things in my journal to follow up on – first, “go to Kildare next time”, and “See the Director of Celtic Spirituality at Armagh”. I am planning a follow up trip to the same areas for next summer, and I will see about researching these and adding them to my itinerary.

Ray described Aidan’s approach to mission as bottom-up instead of top-down. Top-down mission begins at the centers of power; bottom-up mission begins among the people.

The location of Lindisfarne contributed to a top-down approach: It was close, but not too close, to the center of Northumbrian power. As a tidal island, it was also separated from the daily life of the castle. When the tide was in, Lindisfarne is a place of intake and prayer. When the tide is out, it is a place of mission.

Ray re-told the story of Aidan being given a horse by King Oswald, and Aidan giving that horse to a poor family. Oswald’s goal was to allow Aidan to reach the most number of people in the shortest amount of time. Aidan saw Jesus’ model as more applicable, and Jesus spent three years walking the roads and streets of Galilee, speaking to people where and was they were.

Aidan’s model for mission was this:

• Spread the Gospel by sharing the message at the street level.
• Teach mission teams to memorize the psalms and then a gospel, then another gospel.
• When you meet somebody, ask them what they believe. Listen and pay attention. Care about their answer. If they are open, ask if they want to know what you believe. Give them the opportunity to say no.
• Model the Kingdom of God in all things

As an alternative to making the church powerful, Aidan established monasteries:

• Monks lived in simple thatched huts
• They built common areas as places of hospitality
• They created guest accommodations to be places of welcome
• They created scriptoriums for the work of copying and illustrating the Scriptures
• They established schools for education and literacy for their guests and surrounding community.

Monasteries were not filled with academics, but with people who prayed, welcomed others and worked.

The Irish mission here was open to prophetic experiences of God speaking through believers to other people. The charismatic gifts were experienced and expressed. Aidan himself was a prophetic figure.

Aidan developed a spirituality of putting oneself into the shoes of others. This approach helped to transform a conflicted culture. During King Oswald’s reign, there were four local cultures interacting: Picts, Scots (the Irish), the Britons and the English (Anglo-Saxons).

We ended our first session with Ray on this note, and took some time to explore the village. I shopped for some gifts and then explored the monastery ruins and the statue of Aidan on the cemetery grounds.

I bought plenty of books from the Community’s bookstore – essentially all of Ray’s books and some introductory material to the Community of Aidan and Hilda also.

The second session was mostly Q&A. We asked Ray if the Community was a religious order. He said that it was – it had a common rule, a process of membership, a novitiate – but that “we just call it a community”. It is not self-consciously monastic.

Ray and other Community members were asked how spiritual formation is different for them here than in the city. They said that having a regular rule and order helped anywhere. The tides do help to create a rhythm, but that we should remember that anytime we move or change jobs, our life’s rule changes, so a regular rule of life can occur anywhere.

Ray discussed Pete Ward’s book Liquid Church. Pete’s suggestion is to discern where spiritual seekers are living their lives and putting their footprints, and allowing the presence of Christ to grow in those places. The implications of this are a shift in questions. The question we should ask is NOT “how do we get people into this church place”, but it IS, “where do people gather and how do we go there?” Ray has seen this take shape as Christians creating a prayer room in a shopping mall or prayer request boards in the local supermarket.

Ray is seeing a rise in new monasticism, especially in the U. S. Many groups are creating spaces for work, prayer, hospitality and study. Ray also mentioned that the Community has created an e-studies program in new monasticism. I’m very interested in learning from this group in particular and will enroll in this course.

We left Lindisfarne before the tide rose again.

On Friday evening, we had a ceilidh – a party, in Scottish Churches House. All of the students brought something to share – a song, a story, a joke. We danced and laughed together, and we were very excited to hear one of the students, Jan, play the organ in the cathedral next to our house. We enjoyed one last night in the pub next door.