Nick Welsh, Shop Manager of The Iona Community Welcome Centre on the Isle of Iona, shares her monthly book recommendations. This month Nick is reflecting on welcoming many visitors.
Blue Cheeked Bea Eater
There was much excitement on Iona earlier in the month when we had an unexpected visit from a Blue Cheeked Bee Eater, not normally seen further in Europe than Italy or Greece. The island was flocking (notice the pun!) with bird watchers thrilled to see this unusual visitor.
Small boats
The last couple of months have also been busy as we have welcomed thousands of visitors coming from cruise ships of all sizes. The large boats moor at either end of the Sound of Iona and tender the passengers in on many small boats to the jetty. It can feel a bit overwhelming when many arrive at once, and they are often slightly disorientated as to where they are, but each visitor is met with a smile and a welcome, often by a local tour guide.
In fact all visitors to Iona, except the very few who arrive by helicopter, arrive on a small boat of some kind, whether it is a cruise boat tender, the Calmac ferry or a superyacht. All are welcomed, not just for the business they bring to the island, but also because Iona is generally a welcoming place to all, no matter where you are form and if you are planning to stay for an hour or a year.
Columba Week
We have also celebrated Columba week in the Abbey, with Columba’s feast day being on June 9th. We celebrated in the shop with wonderful music from Simon de Voil and a fascinating session from Catherine Lomas who explores her ministry as a full time iconographer and sacred artist. Her icon of St. Columba is both beautiful and fascinating in the many layered process behind the creating of it.
Columba and his companions of course arrived on Iona in a small boat, as strangers and foreigners. Their welcome was most likely mixed when they first arrived, but they were certainly allowed to settle and make a life for themselves here.
Why then as a nation are we so unfriendly and unwelcoming to those people who today seek safety, security and a new home on our shore, braving terrible conditions in small boats, often unfit for purpose and overcrowded, to reach here. Are we only happy welcoming people who have money to spend, like the cruise ship visitors to Iona?
Book recommendations
My book recommendations this month, all available from the Iona Community shop, are:
The Warriors who do not fight, by Alison Phipps and Tawona Sithole, a conversation in poetry on plight of refugees. (WGP)
Refugees from Eden by Rosemary Power. Rosemary has volunteered in the refugee camps of Northern France (WGP)
A Stranger and you welcomed me by Pope Francis, a call to mercy and solidarity with migrants and refugees (Orbis Books).
Photo credit: Andrew Dawes/ Unsplash
USA North East