Caro Penney, Iona Abbey Warden, searches for peace as we approach Advent.
If you lean in closely, you’ll hear a snippet of my internal monologue…
“I’ve just arrived in Oban on the way back from our staff team-building in Glasgow. Trouble is, all the ferries are cancelled for the rest of today and tomorrow morning. So I’ll have to stay in my favourite hideaway tonight – but should I stay tomorrow night too? The chances of getting all the way to Iona tomorrow are looking very slim. I could perhaps get the first ferry to Craignure, whenever it goes, hang around for a bus and keep my fingers crossed that the Iona ferry will be running in time to get me over. I don’t want to miss the island quiz night! But I’ve an important online meeting tomorrow afternoon… OK, Caro, for your peace of mind (not to mention body and soul) stay two nights in Oban and head over to Iona on Saturday. Saturday is forecast to be a very peaceful day. I can work from here after all. Calm down, all will be well. Peace, peace, peace … breathe it in.”
I had already decided to write this piece about ‘peace’ as a good way to start Advent. I had not anticipated that first paragraph but it hints that peace is multi-layered. A sense of calm, silence, tranquility, the end of conflict in ourselves or between others, a destination, a journey perhaps.
Peace, salaam, shalom
We called 9 November ‘Peace Sunday’ at Iona Abbey. We acknowledged that for many, including on Iona, it is ‘Remembrance Sunday’. And we also expressed our commitment not only to remember the millions of people killed in wars, but to be mindful that the First World War was not ‘the war to end all wars’. One of our volunteers, Indigo, reminded us in the reflection that we all need to be peacemakers in different ways. Peace, peace, peace. Don’t only say it quietly – shout it!
The following Sunday, about a dozen folk from Iona including from the Abbey Team, gathered on the beach at the jetty for an hour to share poems and silence in vigil for Gaza. Folk in different locations across Mull were doing the same – it was a simple yet powerful expression of the pain and anger we continue to bear for the people of Gaza (and beyond) where there seems so little hope. Peace, salaam, shalom. Don’t only pray for it – act for it.
At the end of September, I received an email from a recent guest about their time on Iona. They write:
“I was incredibly nervous coming to Iona. I am firmly in the middle of my transition at the moment: I live my life in two genders and my week in Iona was my first week presenting myself to the world, as myself: as a trans woman. When our daughter finishes high school at the end of next year, I will start to live my life full-time in my gender. I like to think of transition as a state of moving between, not something that starts when I finally get to live in my gender. I cannot imagine a gentler way to start the second half of my life than what you all gave me at Iona. The welcome you gave, as we arrived at the Island blew me away; your unconditional acceptance of who I am is something that left me without any real words, and upon reflection I am still not sure I have words to explain how much this meant to me.”
I hope ‘peace’ would be one word – for they certainly are on a journey towards peace in themselves. Peace, peace, peace. Don’t only think about it, embody it.
I’ve also been shocked, though perhaps not surprised, at the number of guests and volunteers from the USA who said they weren’t sure how we would welcome them. We have of course done all we can to give them a very clear welcome and assure them of our solidarity. Peace, salaam, shalom is so much more than words. Don’t just say it, share it.
As Advent begins and we wait in hope and expectation for signs of the Prince of Peace: confronting injustice, embracing truth, healing hurts and affirming each of us. Let us shout, embody, act and share all that peace means for ourselves, for our neighbours, for the earth. Peace, salaam, shalom.
USA North East