אבנימ

Iona is the westernmost point of our journey. We took the Caledonian-MacBrayne ferry from Oban to the Isle of Mull, and thence a bus from Craignure on the east of the Isle to Fionphort on the west, whence we ferried to Iona. Johannes and I both found Iona to be a singular experience, agreeing that we would be content to spend a week here, a month, a year, a life. The island does indeed have an enchanting quality as you sit atop the high point, gazing out to the western Hebrides, seeming at the top of the world, high above it, and removed from its hustle and bustle.

Johannes named this the high point of the journey, and said he was glad that it was not at the beginning of our itinerary, lest the other events seem anticlimactic by comparison.

The driver/guide of the Mull bus informed us that although Mull was once part of the mainland, and that Ben More, the mountain of Mull, was once connected to Glen More on the mainland, not so Iona. He said that it is geologically different, and seems to have always been there.

One considers the calling of Columcille, aka Columba, the Irish prince who gave his life for the gospel. The scope of his labors extended through Scotland and into Norway, and the mission center on Iona endured and prospered for centuries despite being repeatedly pillaged and destroyed by Viking raiders.

Iona is regarded as a holy place, and 40 Scots kings are buried here, including Duncan whom MacBeth slew.

The “Iona Community” which runs the Abbey is an ecumenical “social gospel” group which labors for truth, justice, the elimination of weapons and the acceptance of homosexuality — I saw no evidence of a true witness to Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, that cannot take away for the island itself — it seems to bear its own testimony and remembers.

O for the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit and light of the Gospel once more upon this land! Iona sits as a jewel among the Hebrides, and has a timeless ethereal quality. Here one loses the sense of time altogether, and just is.