A Call to Follow

As we approach lent, let us reflect on our call to follow Jesus – in the words of Mary Fleeson, artist from the Lindisfarne scriptorium. Mary is our guest speaker at our Annual Conference in June this year.

 

I follow Jesus

Who is man, human, whole, impartial,

Passionate,

Curious

And yet also God, incarnate, creative and created

To walk beside us.

I follow the Shepherd

Like a lamb, trusting, comforted, safe,

Held in a strength

Beyond my own.

Knowing that I am sought, special, precious

And enabled to be.

I follow the saints,

Those who followed Him before,

Those who died

To self, For Him,

I learn from their lives, sacrifice and wisdom.

God given.

I follow because

I am called, desired, loved and cherished

By my Creator,

My Savior.

Asked only to love in return, love others

And be loved.

Annual St Brigid’s Day Lecture, Church of Ireland Catherdral in Armagh

This should be a wonderful event!

Wednesday February 1^st 2011 – St. Brigid’s Day 7:30p.m.

“The Work Of Angels: The Art Of Early Christianity”

An evening with Dr Rachel Moss from Trinity College Dublin’s History of Art Department. She will tell us about the beauty of the illuminated manuscripts of The Book of Kells and the artwork of Celtic Christianity – also about the Book of Armagh.

Modern Psychology tells us about the left brain and right brain approaches to knowledge. Celtic Christianity valued Artistic expression and reminds us of the importance of being able to express the whole of our humanity in the search for the Divine. ‘Knowing God’ is not just about theological books and academia. It is also about an experience of the Divine through the senses, through art and poetry and through the intuitive aspects of our humanity.

Venue: St. Patrick’s Church of Ireland Cathedral

Admission: £5.00 – payable at the door.

“Sacred Living” – a new resource on Celtic Spirituality

Our very own Director of the Centre for Celtic Spirituality, the Rev. Grace Clunie has released a marvelous new book called Sacred Living: Practical Inspirations from Celtic Spirituality for the Contemporary Spiritual Journey. Order it and read it for yourself – it is worth it!

view Grace’s book here

I Rise Today

From St Patrick’s Breastplate

(image from Downpatrick, Northern Ireland, where Patrick is said to be buried)

 

 

 

I rise today:

in power’s strength, invoking the Trinity,

believing in threeness,

confessing the oneness,

of Creation’s Creator.

… I rise today:

with the power of God to pilot me,

God’s strength to sustain me,

God’s wisdom to guide me,

God’s eye to look ahead for me,

God’s ear to hear me,

God’s word to speak for me,

God’s hand to protect me,

God’s way before me,

God’s shield to defend me,

God’s host to deliver me…

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me;

Christ within me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me;

Christ to right of me, Christ to left of me;

Christ in my lying, Christ in my sitting, Christ in my rising;

Christ in the heart of all who think of me,

Christ on the tongue of all who speak to me,

Christ in the eye of all who see me,

Christ in ear of all who hear me.

I rise today: in power’s strength, invoking the Trinity,

believing in threeness,

confessing the oneness,

of Creation’s Creator.

For to the Lord belongs salvation,

and to the Lord belongs salvation

and to Christ belongs salvation.

May your salvation, Lord, be with us always.

(attributed to Patrick, 5th century)

Ordinary, Extraordinary God

We thank you, God, for the enchanting.

For the things that pluck us

out of our everyday experience -

however briefly -

and tantalise us with glimpses of mystery.

For extraordinary wonders of angels,

shooting stars, impossible coincidences,

and things that go bump in the night.

And for ordinary wonders;

such as the way a plain cheese sandwich

seems like a gourmet banquet

when carried for miles and eaten outside.

Ordinary, extraordinary God,

thank you for reminding us that the world, and you, are bigger than we can possibly imagine.

- Jane Bentley (quoted from Around a Thin Place: An Iona Pilgrimage Guide)

Update on the Centre’s Ministry

I just wrote an update for my home Presbytery in the States, and I thought I would share it with our other readers as well!

Update from Northern Ireland

FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

Here in Belfast we may not have had snow yet, but yesterday we turned our clocks an hour back and we are now entering the darkest part of the year. It’s an eerily beautiful time in Ireland, when the sun sits low on the horizon at midday and the shadows are always long.

In the Celtic world, Christians were very aware of darkness and light changing with the seasons; and they saw this darker time of the year as one of hope for and anticipation of the season of light that would inevitably come again. Christians would enter an early, extended Advent, preparing for the coming of the Light of the World, which was celebrated in Christmas just after the Winter Solstice, ushering in the season of light once again.

And so while the outside world enters a colder and darker period, we turn inward for that season of hope and anticipation. There is a great deal of excitement, growth and development going on in communities where people gather for worship, fellowship, for study and learning, as we prepare ourselves for the season of light that is ahead.

After a fascinating slate of programs last year and after hosting two very successful pilgrimages over the summer (one in Northern Ireland and one to Iona off the coast of Scotland), the Centre for Celtic Spirituality is in a busy time of development right now.

LOCAL PROGRAM

• In case you aren’t aware of the work of the Centre for Celtic Spirituality, it is an ecumenical organization based in Armagh, Northern Ireland, that provides opportunities for Protestants and Catholics to come together through the common ground of Celtic Christian Spirituality, a heritage which they share and that is older than the divisions between them. In a society where Protestants and Catholics still have few opportunities to encounter one another, particularly in faith-oriented settings, this is extremely valuable in the work of peace and reconciliation in this land today.

• The Centre continues to offer Celtic worship once a month, though has recently begun alternating Celtic Eucharist with Celtic Prayer. Because members of the Centre are both Protestant and Catholic, Celtic Prayer is a more neutral place to gather in worship across denominational barriers. Each month, an ecumenical lunch brings community members together to raise funds for a charity, and is a chance for people of different denominations to get to know one another casually, over a bowl of soup and a bite of bread.

• The Centre’s theme for the year is “Creative Spirituality,” including a high-profile lecture on the Book of Kells and other illuminated manuscripts, a workshop on creative writing called “Poems of the Cross,” and the annual conference at which an artist from the Lindisfarne scriptorium will share with us her artwork, poetry and prayers in the Celtic tradition. See http://celtic-spirituality.net/ for more information on the Centre’s offerings.

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM

• “Creative Faith” Pilgrimage May 29- June 5, 2012: This pilgrimage journeys as far south as the ancient monastic city of Glendalough and as far north as the Corrymeela Community on the North Coast. It includes time in Armagh for the Centre for Celtic Spirituality’s annual conference, as well as Dublin and Belfast. For 8 days and 8 nights we will focus on the theme of “Creative Faith,” exploring spiritual expression in the Celtic Christian tradition through art, music, creative writing, prayer, and praxis. See http://blessmyfeet.wordpress.com/pilgrimage-may-2012/ for details on the itinerary, and please contact pilgrimagedirector@gmail.com if you are interested in journeying with us. Deposits will be due on December 20 – this could be the perfect Christmas gift to yourself or someone you love! And please pass this on if there is someone else you know who might be thrilled to come to Ireland on pilgrimage.

 

• Confirmation Pilgrimages: Over the summer we hosted a Confirmation Class Pilgrimage from Alexandria, just outside of DC. They journeyed with us for a week as the culmination of their confirmation curriculum; it was a transformative and inspirational experience for them. Celtic Christians had an adventurous faith, trusting that God would be present with them wherever they journeyed and that Christ’s face could be seen in the strangers they met along the way. The Centre will now be developing a Confirmation Curriculum Supplement to introduce this Adventurous Faith, including positive views on identity, creation, hospitality, and other inspirational themes from Celtic Spirituality. If you would like to make use of this curriculum or discuss the possibility of bringing a confirmation class to Ireland, please let me know.

• PC(USA) Peacemaking Travel/Study Seminar: We are in the planning process with the PC(USA) Peacemaking Program for April 1-12 2013.  If you are interested in having an intensive, educational, and challenging look at Ireland’s political and religious history and its application to our contexts today, keep your eyes open for opportunities to book after Christmas with the Peacemaking office in Louisville.

• Sabbaticals: We have had a number of inquires about sabbaticals for clergy members and so are developing a program that can be catered to individual interests and schedules. For those on sabbatical there will be the option of lodging at a low rate, tutoring in Celtic Christian Spirituality, Anam Cara/ Spiritual Direction, plus guidance in linking up with local people, organizations, and historical sites. Classes in Celtic art, writing, music, etc can be organized. We know of a few who have obtained Lily Grants for this kind of sabbatical, if anyone would like to obtain funding!

• Adult Retreats: We are prepared to offer retreats for adult groups. While pilgrimages involve packed schedules of traveling, retreats are held at serene, picturesque locations suitable for spiritual reflection at a slower, more restful pace. Visiting speakers will come to you to offer the depth and richness of the Celtic Christian tradition. Workshops on Celtic Prayer, Art, Creative Writing, and Music will be included. These retreats are low-cost due to the fact that retreat centres offer reasonable package rates.

• College/Seminary Study Tours: We are in conversation with Corrymeela, a prominent peace organization in Northern Ireland, about offering study tours (with the possibility of accreditation) on Celtic Spirituality and Peacemaking. If you know of an institution that would be interested in setting up such a program, please let me know.

• Online Presence: On Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Centre-for-Celtic-Spirituality-Armagh/201021293244323 you will find links to our local events and to tid-bits on Celtic Spirituality and how it connects to the rest of life. Also see http://blessmyfeet.wordpress.com/ where you’ll find reflections, prayers, and images of Celtic Spirituality. Come visit us online!

AVAILABLE FOR TALKS SPRING 2012

I will be visiting the States in late March/early April next year and will be available for talks if requested. Consider including me in your Lenten program, on a Sunday morning, or at a weeknight event. Subjects of interest to you or your congregations might include

•  “What is Celtic Spirituality, Anyway?”
• “Peacemaking and Faith: The Celtic Perspective”
• Celtic Prayer workshop
• Creative Faith workshop: Celtic Spirituality through art and music
• Or even just, “What’s it been like to live in Northern Ireland for the past 5 years?”

Alongside my work with the Centre for Celtic Spirituality, I’ve been taking courses in Irish traditional music, Irish language, and Spiritual Accompaniment, and this year I was asked to be a part of a training in Spirituality and Trauma called “Journey Towards Healing,” which is opening my eyes to the far-reaching effects of the Troubles and of trauma in all parts of the world. I’m also working on a collection of Psalms put to traditional Irish tunes, some of which will be used by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.

I’m eager to share some of my experience with you and to discuss how this applies to your own context and expression of faith. It would be great to meet you and share our journey in faith together, in the US if not here in Ireland!

I’ll close with an ancient Celtic blessing:

May God’s goodness be yours,

and well, and seven times well, may you spend your lives:

may you be an isle in the sea,

may you be a hill on the shore,

may you be a star in the darkness,

may you be a staff to the weak;

and may the power of the Spirit       

pour on you, richly and generously,

today, and in the days to come.

 

In Thanksgiving for Creation

From the Celtic Psalter (9th Century)

My dear King, my own King,

without price, without sin,

You created the whole world,

eternal, victorious King.

King of mysteries,

You existed before the elements,

before the waters covered the ocean floor;

beautiful King,

You are without beginning and without end.

King, you created the land out of shapeless mass,

You carved the mountains and chiselled the valleys,

and covered the earth with trees and grass.

King, you measured each object

and each span within the universe;

the heights of the mountains

and the depths of the oceans;

the distance from the sun to the moon,

and from star to star.

And You created men and women

to be Your stewards of the earth,

always praising You for Your boundless love.

(Quoted from Celtic Daily Prayer: Prayers and Readings from the Northumbria Community, p. 286-7)

Iona – A Place of New Beginnings

The group that traveled to Iona from Belfast had a magnificent time. They say that pilgrimage is “an outward journey with an inward change,” and when we returned to Belfast one week after we had departed for Iona, we were indeed changed people: we were refreshed, renewed, inspired, challenged, and we were happy.

God’s presence had blessed us all along the entire journey. As we rode the buses and ferries and trains (even missing a ferry led to extra bonding and lots of laughter!); as we saw the gorgeous natural beauty of the landscape all the way from Belfast Lough to Stranraer to Glasgow to Northwest Scotland to the island of Mull to Iona; as we worshipped in the Abbey with the Iona Community and scrubbed toilets and reflected on reconciliation and wandered the island and ate meals and cleaned up after ourselves, as we had unexpected and enlightening conversations with strangers who soon became friends, as we huddled under St Martin’s Cross at 5:30 am in the rain after the fire alarm woke us from our slumber, as we sang “Take O Take Me As I Am” while crowding under the protection of the bookstore waiting for the fire department to let us back to our beds, as we hugged our new friends goodbye and set off as old friends back to Belfast – GOD WAS IN ALL OF THIS.

When I arrived back to my house at almost midnight, I saw things in an entirely different way. My life is so precious. I needed that pilgrimage in order to see more clearly what I already have – and also to catch a glimpse of who God is calling to be now, who God has always called me to be, and how I can live that out in this new phase that is ahead, this new chapter that began when I crossed the waters to Iona this September.

“God of New Beginnings”

God of new beginnings,
help us to let go
and to turn our backs
on the things that hold us back,
and to hold on
to those things
that remind us of your love,
and help us to follow in your way.
Amen.

- Author unknown, quoted in “Around a Thin Place: An Iona Pilgrimage Guide”

First Official Pilgrimage!

Though the Centre for Celtic Spirituality has had many groups stop in to Armagh for a day, a half-day, an hour, a few weeks ago we hosted our very first week-long pilgrimage to Northern Ireland. And it was a wonderful experience! Particularly because it was the first pilgrimage that we had planned and led ourselves, we needed to get as much feedback as possible each step of the way – and thankfully, the feedback was extremely positive. If pilgrimage is an outward journey that leads to inward change, this is what seemed to happen within each member of the group, and in myself as well.

The participants were  an Episcopal Confirmation class from just outside of DC, completing their J2A (Journey to Adulthood) program that led up to this pilgrimage. What a fantastic idea to have a pilgrimage as a part of a confirmation curriculum! A chance to see a new part of the world, be stretched beyond your comfort zone, and to look for God at work in an unfamiliar place – and all this at such a crucial, formative stage in life! I would have loved an opportunity like that when I was their age.

On our first night, I explained to the group the importance of pilgrimage in the tradition of Celtic Spirituality – the business about setting out on boats with no oars, setting out into the COMPLETE unknown (as it was in that age free of iPhones and wireless technology), but trusting that God would be present with you WHEREVER you ended up. The Celtic Christians practiced an ADVENTUROUS spirituality, not one that was static or confined to the four walls of a church building.

Part of the journey involved stepping thousands of years into the past: seeing ancient monasteries (Glendalough), Celtic crosses (Monasterboice), Cathedrals (Armagh, Downpatrick), and even a site older than the pyramids (Newgrange). Another part of the journey involved looking at contemporary Ireland: its peace organizations (Glencree), its young people (meeting local youth in Armagh and recent Confirmands in Belfast), its intentional Christian communities (Corrymeela). Still another aspect of the trip was designed for a sense of fun, group bonding, and a sense of achievement: an Adventure Course (involving high ropes, a leap of faith, and abseiling in extremely adverse weather conditions!), climbing Mount Slemish (the small but steep mountain where Patrick allegedly herded sheep), and hiking the natural wonders of the North Coast (Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge, suspended 80 ft above the crashing waves of the Irish sea, and the Giant’s Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage site).

Each morning we set out on that day’s pilgrimage using the prayer I put in my last post, which encouraged all of us to be aware of God’s presence at every moment of our journey. Speaking for myself, it was a week full of wonder at the beauty of God’s creation, inspiration drawn from Christians in this land past and present, and also seeing the face of Christ in the stranger. A group of 17 strangers arrived on June 22nd, but as the week went on I caught glimpses of the image of God in each one of them – in their humor, in their curiosity, in the sweetness they showed to my 10-month old son who accompanied us along the way, in their open eyes and minds, in their prayers and reflections. It was only a brief encounter with their lives, but in that brief meeting I saw them as the beautiful creations of God that they are, each one of them holding great potential for contributing to this world in their own special way.

My hope and prayer is that this spiritual adventure will inspire them to live into that great potential as their lives unfold, and that they will have many more spiritual adventures in their wide-open futures.

A Celtic Pilgrimage Prayer

This is the prayer for the Confirmation Pilgrimage beginning tomorrow:

 

God, be with us in every valley,

Jesus, be with us on every hill,

Holy Spirit, be with us

on every stream,

every cliff’s edge,

every green pasture;

every moor and meadow,

in the crest of the waves on the sea.

Every time we rest,

and every time we wake up;

God be with us

every step we take.

- adapted from the Carmina Gadelica

(a collection of ancient Celtic prayers)