BROKEBACK ISLAND: THE PREQUEL

The group was given the option of visiting Staffa for half the day, which is an island with huge basalt formations. and I opted not to go. Iona has captured my imagination for thirty years, and four hours didn't seem too much time to devote to it.

Iona, a tiny island of the west coast of Mull, which itself is off the west coast of Scotland, and the birthplace of British Christianity. Home of not the first and not the last monk that didn't like women. His name was St. Columba, and he lived in Ireland until he did something dreadful and preferred to think he was called to Scotland, to preach to the Picts, a group of tattooed and bad-mannered but easily swayed young people.

Most people think Iona has been a religious place since that time. The monastery was there a long time, growing gradually from a collection of wood huts to a good-sized stone edifice, but it went into ruins sometime in (if I was listening, which I doubt) the 13th century. It was renovated into a modern-day ecumenical retreat house during the 20th century, with all the modern conveniences. During the 14th century, the poor monks had to work either in the scriptorium, or the kitchen, or the infirmary, or in the herb garden, or tending animals, plus put in a full day of prayer. Today life is much easier--everyone works in the garden all day. The monastery has a magnificent collection of gravestones, and Columba's chair is worth a look. And I agree that humanity took a giant step forward when it stopped barking at the moon and started worshipping something slightly more abstract. On the other hand, the more I learn about early man, and the more I understand the wide gap between his potential and his actuality, the more I think that religion served an important purpose. In the realm of imagination, it was a substitute for education, which itself was in short supply. Not many abstract subjects, like math. (Footnote -- I liked the ruined nunnery better, which is shown in the picture.)

Such purpose today is more attenuated, especially in the Scotland of today, where the elderly Freewill Presbyterians (or whatever they call themselves) hurl curses at the men going into the pub next door for an early Sunday beer.

I started thinking of this when Graham admitted to being a liberal arts major, and said he had to write papers on the religious schisms, which he summed up by saying that every little thing caused a schism with the COE and there was no rhyme nor reason to it.

Sue G. here. I am writing this portion 2 days later, more or less to fill in the blanks. Iona is presently a non-denominational Christian center that says it's not a retreat house or a church, but which welcomes visitors from all over the world who will join in their fellowship and help out with some chores. Neither of us found this lifestyle option attractive, but it was fun to visit the grounds, especially an enclosed area containing some absolutely spectacular gravestones--one Viking, with runes on it. We had a beautiful, sunny day and a total of 4 ferry rides that were as smooth as glass.

At day's end we were dropped off back in beautiful downtown Oban, only to embark on a long and painful search to find someplace that was open for dinner that was not a loud, noisy pub and that served Scottish food (I love all the world's cuisines, but when in Rome...). Well, Oban rolls up its sidewalks pretty early. Something like 1 1/2 hours later we found ourselves in a small Indian restaurant. It was pretty good.