Inchcolm Abbey Pilgrimage

On Saturday June 7 about 60 of us set sail from Hawes Pier, South Queensferry, on the Maid of the Forth for a pilgrimage to Inchcolm Abbey. Inchcolm Island (“Columba’s Island”), an island of the River Forth, has always been a safe stronghold for folk of the past, ferry-crossing between Fife and Edinburgh. The Augustinian Abbey and the hermit’s cell kept alight the flame of faith in Christ, lit by St Columba. Later, the Danes buried their heroes there, and later still, the military built wartime defences to protect the City.

The pilgrim group from Mayfield Salisbury, joined by pilgrims from St Columba’s RC and from St Andrews Orthodox Church, weathered strong winds and cold sea spray, but found the island bathed in warm sunshine. It was alive with protective gulls and eider duck sheltering their nestlings. Seals kept watch from the bay.

We remembered with gratitude the mission of St Columba, and Pentecost’s global gospel, in a beautiful inclusive service of worship led by our minister, Revd Scott McKenna, in the Abbey. The ancient stone walls resounded with singing and prayers. We picnicked on the grass, gazing at the birds, the waves and the flowers. We tiptoed to peep at a sitting mother eider guarding her tiny chicks with speckled spread wings.

This was holy ground, and a place of thanksgiving for Margaret Nuttall’s inspiration behind the first Inchcolm Pilgrimage years ago and Ian McCallum’s vision that created the Pilgrimage Fund. 

Further photographs can be viewed in the recent events section of the Gallery

Planning your exit strategy  

We are hearing more and more that our well-being, or spiritual health, is improved by being on top of practical considerations about matters that affect the end of our lives.   As part of our on-going dialogue about healthy ageing we invited two experts to come to explore some of the practical aspects of “putting our affairs in order”.  Or, in the spirit of the new openness, how to go about organising what we would like to happen when we die, or to help those who will have to make decisions about what we want if we can no longer do so for ourselves.

Our two experts – Margaret Ross and Jo Downie from Balfour and Manson – joined a group of 15 to discuss wills, power of attorney and funeral wishes, and very importantly to explain what is important; how to put what you want  in place; recognising the time to involve others; and who to speak to.  It sounds like a sombre agenda for an afternoon but we all appreciated the opportunity to ask questions, and received lots of information, including written checklists, to take away.

Perhaps the most valuable part of the occasion was the chance to talk openly and hear examples from Margaret and Jo of their experience of this whole subject that is not always easy to bring up in conversation with family and friends.  However communication was the critical message, making sure that the family, the GP, the minister knows what you want to happen.

A few days later some of the congregation attended the annual Malcolm Goldsmith lecture, given this year by Baroness Julia Neuberger.  Her subject was The Importance of a Good Death, in which she emphasised that we have lost the art of dying, and that a good death is as important for the person dying as for the bereaved.  Her talk was provocative, witty, plain speaking and reinforced the message about recording and sharing our wishes.   It concluded with a very practical list of bullet points or Principles for a Good Death:

· Be able to know when death is coming and understand what can be expected

· Be able to retain control of what happens

· Be afforded dignity and privacy

· Have control over pain relief and other symptoms

· Have choice and control over where death occurs

· Have access to any spiritual and emotional support required

· Have access to information and expertise of whatever kind is necessary

· Have access to hospice care in any location, not only in hospital

· Have control over who is present and who shares the end

· Be able to issue advance directives which make sure wishes are respected

· Have time to say goodbye and control over other aspects of timing

· Be able to leave when it is time to go and not have life prolonged pointlessly

From ‘Not Dead Yet’ by Julia Neuberger in 2008      Originally published by Age Concern in 2000 for the Millennium Debate of the Age.   

An audio clip of the Malcolm Goldsmith Lecture, delivered by Rabbi Baroness Neuberger is now available on the Faith in Older People web site at this link.

Both events wound up with time to talk and tea with cake.

POPE FRANCIS: AN ECUMENICAL VIEW

Following a now well established pattern, Mayfield Salisbury and our neighbours St Columba’s Roman Catholic Church have again combined in 2014 for a series of luncheon lectures, but this year we are also being joined by our Episcopalian neighbours from St Peter’s, Lutton Place. The first lecture was on Saturday 15th February when over 50 people gathered in St Columba’s Church hall to hear Dr Sara Parvis, a senior lecturer in the University of Edinburgh’s School of Divinity, give a most absorbing and stimulating talk entitled, Pope Francis, An Ecumenical View.

Dr Parvis introduced her subject saying how since becoming Pope in March 2013, Francis has energised and excited all the churches, and how he has many interesting things to offer ecumenism. This is a Pope who believes in de-centering the Church and speaks of himself as coming from ‘the ends of the earth’ with the Biblical resonance that phrase has of being Christ’s witnesses to the ‘ends of the earth’ (Acts 1.8)

We were taken through a fascinating resumé of his life prior to becoming Pope. Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in December 1936, one of five children of Italian immigrants. He joined the Jesuits in 1958, but did not becoming a priest without a struggle and was thus older than many when he was ordained in 1969. His mother, in particular, had been very against the idea, feeling that she would lose him, though his paternal grandmother was very supportive. He is thus the first Pope to be ordained after the seismic changes set in motion by Vatican II. He became Archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998. Much of what we are now seeing in his papacy was already happening while he was a Bishop. For example, he insisted on having a phone line on which priests could call him directly at any time. He lived in a flat and not in the Bishop’s traditional residence. He visited poor areas regularly and stressed that priests should not be self-seeking or appear un-forgiving. Although he stuck closely to traditional Catholic teaching, as he still does, he became close friends with the Chief Rabbi of Buenos Aires and was always willing to pray with those of a different outlook such as Evangelical Christians. He fought corruption in all its forms, in the banking sector for example where money laundering was rife.

This is a man of hope, a peace-maker who encourages people who disagree to walk together and in so doing concentrate on what they have in common. His grace and humanity are there for all to see. For example, Pope Benedict had resigned, something seen as exceptionally courageous and perhaps dangerous, but Pope Francis has gone out of his way to show him respect, tenderness and friendship. And he is full of surprises, not the least of which is an insistence that we should not take ourselves too seriously!

Dr Parvis was warmly thanked for her most interesting talk by Rev’d Scott McKenna who also led the closing prayers. Dick Scott announced that the next meeting would be at Mayfield Salisbury on Saturday, 22nd March, when Father Raphael Pavouris of the Orthodox Community of St Andrew in Edinburgh would be the speaker. All were then invited by St Columba's for a time of fellowship over delicious bowls of soup.   

  
‘LOOK WELL ON THESE SKIES’
 

'Amazed by Science, illumined by Religion' This booklet is available free of charge.  Details HERE