- Honour and privilege to be present on the occasion of 1450th anniversary of the arrival of Columba and his disciples on Iona, and the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Iona Community by Revd Dr George MacLeod in 1938.
- Sorry that the First Minister cannot be here but a particular pleasure for me - as a member of the Scottish Government - to substitute for him in my own constituency. Representing 26 islands and a sizeable chunk of the Scottish mainland is always a challenge but usually a pleasure and representing the people and place of Iona one of my greatest honours and pleasures.
- I want today to celebrate people and place - of course first and foremost the great figure of Columba but also the many figures who have featured in the story of this island and its continuing influence on Scotland and the world.
- Evident that a lot of hard work has been done in preparation for the celebrations and so it's fitting that express our gratitude to all who have been involved in the planning and preparations for today’s event.
- I would like in particular to thank Revd Peter MacDonald and the Iona Community for their kind invitation, along with the Provost, members and officials of Argyll and Bute Council; officials and staff from Historic Scotland and Caledonian MacBrayne; Police Scotland; members of local churches; the Iona Community Council and the people of Iona itself for making this event possible and warmly welcoming us to your island.
- Fitting to acknowledge and welcome members of Dr George MacLeod's family who are present this afternoon - Sir Maxwell Macleod, Mary Macleod and Neil MacLeod
- In a slim volume called “Am Measg nam Bodach “ (Amongst The Old Men) which reproduced a series of 1930‘s BBC radio talks in Gaelic there is an account by the Rev Coll MacDonald - born at Machir Croft on the island - of his boyhood days on Iona.
- He contrasted, even at the turn of the century, the garrulous talk of those strangers who came to Iona seeking Columba with the traditional , Gaelic conversation, of the older folk of the island. Memorably he observed that “Ri’m chuimhne , cha robh moran ionraidh air Calum Cille aig ceilidh” - roughly translated as being “in my recollection there wasn’t much said about Columba at the ceilidhs !”.
- But , ceilidhs apart, others who knew the island over many generations told a different story. That great seventeenth century Hebridean traveller Martin Martin remarked on the passionate defence of Columba made by the islanders when it was alleged that he had been buried elsewhere
- Earlier the Franciscan Mission to the Highlands and Islands between 1623 and 1637 remarked upon the profound devotion of the entire Hebrides to their Saint, Columba a devotion that had led to the centring of the Bishopric of the Isles on this island from 1499.
- And much later , in 1848 when - from my own Episcopal denomination - the then Bishop of Argyll & the Isles alleged in a speech on the island that the light and glory of Iona was gone, the then Free Church Minister Donald McVean had be restrained from setting upon the Bishop to call him to account.
- For every denomination has seen, and does see, the light and glory of Iona. And that light and glory shines principally from the work of St Columba in this very place that started 1450 years ago.
- That work of course was carried out, first and foremost, by his own monastic community, who bore eloquent witness to God's presence in the world. He and they understood that Christianity not a matter of separated individual piety but of transformational involvement and service.
- The monastery was a community of worship and work; study and service; humanity and hospitality.
- And because of it’s place - for in a world and time when the sea was the best and fastest highway - Iona was at the centre of a network of routes between Ireland, Scotland and further afield (including North Africa and the near East).
- So Iona not only served, perched to, converted and inspired all that we can see from here but it also welcomed many visitors to it shores - pilgrims and priests, yes but also the troubled, the marginalised and the outcast.
- That tradition of community life and service and of hospitality for all who seek it remains an important aspect of the Iona Community’s ministry and an expression of its Christian faith. The church - by which I mean all our faith communities - reaching out to those on the edge in every sense and proclaiming the good news of inclusion , reconciliation, peace and justice is the mission to which Columba was called and which still calls them, and I hope us, today.
- Of course the physical presence of Columba and those who came after him is a particular feature of this place. It connects us in a living and lively way with his ideals and with him as a person.
- We can, with a sense of wonder, walk the same route that he walked. Somewhere around here is the very spot in which when the bell tolled for the midnight service on a summer day in 597 - perhaps June the 9th, the day on which he is still commemorated - , the ageing and infirm monastic leader, nobleman, visionary and very human being moved forward to the alter and fell down, never to be revived. Here , around here, where he lived , talked and worked.
- The stories of those years , of course, were written down by a later Abbot of the community, Adamnan who was also one of the earliest spin doctors, developing the tales for purposes of his own and those of the Christian community he represented.
- But some of them break through that straightjacket to have an absolute ring of truth. And some have inspired others to tell them in different ways.
- For this is also an island of creativity.
- Another characteristic of Columba and his community was the encouragement of creative, cultural activity – both in the sense of making things and making sense of things.
- He regarded the creative arts as means of worshipping God and expressing human creativity.
- Scholarship and artistic craftsmanship were encouraged and developed.
- The monks studied and copied the Psalms and Gospels (notably the Book of Kells which was written in the scriptorium of the monastery here and is housed in Trinity College, Dublin).
- They worked in metal, leather and stone, and created the beautiful, tall and intricately carved high crosses which adorn this island and the mainland of Scotland, including St Oran's, the first Celtic High Cross which has now been re-erected in the museum and which we will all see today. .
- And they preserved in writing the poems and legends which celebrated the heroes and battles from the pre-Christian past.
- The Columban community, and others like it, began the long process of transformation which nurtured a respect in Scotland for education and learning, and the flourishing of our internationally renowned universities and cultural life.
- And of course the island itself breathed in that inspiration and still breathes it out. One of the great “what ifs” of the visiaul arts is here, for Turner wanted to come and paint but was driven back by bad weather at Staffa. It took another century before the work of Peploe and Cadell took the unique colours and perspectives of the place and made them shine throughout the world.
- And the life and exploits Columba have inspired too - John Duncan’s “Columba bidding farewell to the old horse” being just one wonderfully moving interpretation of the great story of the weeping horse and the compassionate saint.
- The Iona Community too continues the tradition of educational and cultural work and has its own widely respected publishing house Wild Goose Publications.
- But a third characteristic of Columba and his successors needs to be mentioned too - their involvement in the political developments of their time – a lengthy and violent period of transition and uncertainty following the departure of the Romans.
- Columba has been portrayed as a king-maker (in the tradition of the OT prophet Samuel).
- In addition to retaining his links with Ireland, he built relationships with
- the kings of the Scots (in modern Argyll and the Inner and Outer Hebrides);
- the Strathclyde Bretons (whose king was based Dumbarton);
- the Picts (who occupied the Highlands, north east and central Scotland); and
- the Lothians and Borders - which were ruled by the kings of Northumbria.
- As a significant leader of the Christian community he had an interest in the kind of place Scotland was and would become.
- The two main focuses of his work – the institutions of the monastery and kingship – had important impact on the development of what became the nation of Scotland and in the years and centuries after his death that impact was clear when the kings themselves were brought here for burial.
- Among other things he was concerned for the transformation of the peoples of Scotland through the witness of the church and the replacement of the arbitrary rule of local warlords with stable authority transformed by the Christian virtues of justice, humility and mercy.
- Yesterday morning I heard my friend Alastair MacIntosh talk on Radio Scotland about the importance of Iona as a place where the Power of Love triumphed over the Love of Power. It is a good analysis and perhaps it should be added to. For Columba was also someone who , with moral force talked truth to power , and that continues to be a job that must be done.
- This self-conscious and determined engagement of the Christian faith with contemporary politics is therefore a vital part of what this country is and should be. And it is an important aspect of the ministry of the Iona Community with its concern for social justice and human rights; human sexuality and gender justice; and peace making and non-violence.
- It remains an important part of the civic engagement of Scotland’s churches and other faith groups in modern Scotland - each of whom plays a significant role in developing community cohesion - and their engagement in the great contemporary questions relating to the Government’s equality agenda and the future of a post-referendum Scotland.
- But it is also - of course - a role for the people of this island, and for every one of the islands and communities in our country. For vital that we seek, encourage and insist on positive engagement by citizens in determining the type of nation we want live in , the vision we have of our society and the nature of our governance.
- These are issues that are founded upon the moral questions we face day in and day out , whatever our job, role or position and they are posed here in a way that allows us to contemplate them more intently .
Conclusion
- But today is also a day of celebration. It is hard for us to peer back 1450 years into a world which, materially at least, was so different from the one we inhabit today. It is even hard to look back 75 years into what we may think of as a monochrome society , though it is one that is more familiar in word and deed.
- But we can understand the significance of the people and the place. The significance of Columba and his small band in tiny vessels who stood upon this shore for the first time and dedicated themselves to their vision of a better society and world.
- And the significance of George MacLeod who was not alone in having a vision for what this place should become again - 1938 for example the Marquis of Bute tried to buy the island from the Duke of Argyll whilst in 1931 the businessman and Philanthropist Sir Donald Russell who had a house on this island also had his own plan and had drawings prepared in plans which Claire Vyner who owned Torlusl in Mull and Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire wanted to take forward for a scheme of her own - but it was George MacLeod’s force of personality and belief which created the Iona Community whose early members rebuilt this abbey and which has gone on to give so much to so many in the last 75 years.
- Let me give the last word to two individuals. Samuel Johnston made it here in 1773 - 240 years ago - and memorably observed that “ That man is little to be envied whose patriotism would not gain force upon the plain of Marathon or whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona.” Those ruins have risen up now, but the piety they inspire is all the greater.
- It is a fine thought but I prefer that of George MacLeod. He called this place a “thin” place. By that he meant that here the barrier between the physical world and the spiritual world is more permeable and that , through the wonderful light and colours of this island, we can find ourselves closer to the eternal and all that is created good in ourselves.
- Perhaps that “thinness” was what drew Columba here. Or perhaps, in a phrase that TS Eliot used to describe another sacred site, that as this place developed as somewhere where “prayer has been valid” so the constantly layed down patina of prayer and the example that it gives is itself making the membrane between heaven and earth more pourous.
- That is a good thought for the day of Pentecost. The holy spirit does descend and is here today. It inspires us to walk in the footsteps of Columba and to seek to emulate his vision of a better world.
- This is a special place, full of special people. It has , and continues to have, a profound influence of our nation and the world. Today let us celebrate and give thanks for that fact.