Being Benedictine

It was truly a dream to visit the sacred sites of Iona on a Celtic spirituality pilgrimage to Ireland and Scotland. Getting to Iona is a pilgrimage in itself, yet the journey has been made countless times since the 7th century. Most tourists visit for only a day, like we did, traveling from the coastal town of Oban, Scotland to Craignure on the Isle of Mull, then taking an hour-long bus ride on winding, narrow roads to the other side of the island arriving at the village of Fionnphort. From there, a foot ferry delivers you to the island of Iona. The day’s last ferry departs around 4:30 in the afternoon for the two-and-a-half-hour trip back to Oban. If the ferry is missed at the end of the day, staying overnight on the island is your only option.

Iona is the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland where St. Columba established an Abbey in 563. It might seem like a lot to get to this holy isle, only three miles long and one and a half miles wide, but walking the ground where St. Columba did 1500 years ago, where Benedictines established a monastery in 1204, the place where artists, sculptors, and writers have been inspired for centuries, is a holy, singular experience.

While I longed for more time to wander the beaches and secret coves, the time allowed for visits only to the most well-known sites closest to the ferry landing. Still, our pilgrimage group was able to participate in a meaningful community prayer for peace and reconciliation at the Abbey and visit the Nunnery ruins, St. Oran’s chapel, museums, gardens, and quaint shops including a bookstore, a “must-see” destination on my mini-pilgrimage to Iona.

Months earlier, when I was planning the sites to visit in Ireland, a Benedictine Oblate friend, poet and photographer, Pat Leyko Connelly, reached out about some of her favorite experiences from her trips to Ireland. Pat and I connected through our shared love of Benedictine and Celtic spirituality, and she was generous in sharing tips about places to see in Ireland. When she learned I would also visit Oban and Iona in Scotland, she exclaimed that I must meet with her poet friend Kenneth Steven. Pat could not say enough wonderful things about his poetry. She also hoped I could bring back his newest book “Atoms of Delight” from the bookstore on Iona for her. Kenneth and I exchanged several messages and hoped to connect when I was there (unfortunately, our schedules didn’t allow it, but hopefully there is a next time!)

Visiting a bookstore is one of my favorite things to do, and I was just as excited about browsing book titles on this holy ground as praying in the abbey. The little bookstore was at the end of the walking trail, Sràid nam Marbh (‘Street of the Dead’,) where pilgrims have been walking for centuries. I quickly found THE book, took a photo of it to send to Pat, found another book by John Philip Newell for my friend Ellen, packed both of them away for my journey back to Oban, and later loaded them with all the souvenirs and other books I had purchased for the journey back home.

And three months later, while organizing my study I realized that I had never sent the book to Pat. I contacted her immediately and said I would send it soon, but I would like to read it before I did. (In hindsight, why didn’t I buy a copy? Or two or ten? Because, wow, this little book is a delight.)

I began to read Atoms of Delight: Ten Pilgrimages in Nature by Kenneth Steven. In ten essays, Kenneth explores what a pilgrimage is beyond the journey to a shrine, sanctuary, or other sacred site. He writes that pilgrimages are “journeys of the heart, seeking the profoundly precious places where little miracles happen.” He continues, “These pilgrimages are indeed about longings of the soul, but they are also about healing the soul, for several are about a true finding of solace.”

In the spirit of contemplation, Kenneth shares his quest for “atoms of delights.” Kenneth reflects on his childhood memories of exploring the secret coves, beaches, and reefs of serpentine on Iona, discovering hidden agates in recently plowed fields, and beholding the northern lights as an adult with his beloved wife outside their back door. The exquisite descriptions of the landscape bring the beauty of nature alive in the reader’s mind. This little book is itself a pilgrimage of one’s own imagination.

Seeing the northern lights, he writes, is “The shortest of pilgrimages, to just beyond the back door. We’ll make it again in the winters to come, doubtless, not knowing if we’ll be rewarded with lights or not. But for me, the pilgrimage is not about the certainty of finding, it’s about making the journey— whether short or long— and about all that’s found in that journey. It’s about what you carry back with you, and that may not be what you set out first to find.”

After each heartwarming essay is a poem. In one essay, Kenneth shares about a visit to St. Columba’s Bay on Iona. He remembers being a child, set free from his parents for a few moments to wander ankle-deep into the wild sea, searching for green stones. Stone, the poem that follows, is a gift of synchronicity. “Hold it to the light and it changes…And suddenly I think of it bigger/as the whole of the human heart; carrying the cuts of its journey, brokenness letting in light.” Light is the word I have chosen as my 2025 Word of the Year–so this poem is an “atom of delight” for future reflection.

The pilgrimage to Iona, conversations with Pat and Kenneth, and reading “Atoms of Delight” these months later led to the most delightful pilgrimage of the soul on a snowy Nebraska day. While I will continue to pursue the traveling kind of pilgrimage, I have a keen sense that healing comes through pilgrimages of the heart, in the synchronicity, little miracles, and atoms of delight that foster a sense of wonder, connection, and comfort—in reading the perfect poem, essay, or book.

Atoms of Delight: Ten Pilgrimages in Nature is an invitation to live a life of wonder and a surrender to surprise. I recommend visiting the little bookshop across from the abbey if you find yourself on Iona. But until then, you can find many of Kenneth Steven’s books HERE. Pat Connelly hosts online poetry retreats and fireside readings and has a Monk in the World Guest Post at Abbey of the Arts HERE.

OPPORTUNITY: “Fireside Reading” with Scottish Poet Kenneth Steven, author of many poetry books including “Iona”, “Seeing the Light” and many more on Saturday February 8th at 2pm Eastern Time ( 7pm UK) Hosted on Zoom by Pat Leyko Connelly sponsored by Weston Community Church on the Hill. A $10 donation is appreciated. Checks written to The Weston Community Church on the Hill, P.O. Box 105 , Weston, Vt. 05161 (more payment options are being worked on ) Email Pat Leyko Connelly at patssong43@gmail.com to sign up for this event!

© Jodi Blazek Gehr, Being Benedictine Blogger