We will walk where the land mingles with the sea, and the horizon stretches on for ever.
We will swim, risking frostbite, and cycle into gales that will make forward progress unlikely. We will swat midges and shiver in small tents as the rain rolls in off the mountains.
We will make our own little adventures and cook over sparkling driftwood campfires.
We will make memories.
And be grateful.
Today Emily and I took our canoe out on Loch Tarsan, having packed the stove, the kettle and some marshmallows to toast over a fire.
It was a lovely day, and the head of the loch was shallow and warm (ish) so we also had a swim. Not a soul for miles, just the two of us, and wild creatures- an eagle overhead, and fish jumping at flies.
Store it up in the memory.
An ordinary day, me and my girl, loaded up with blessings.
I have been doing a fair amount of cycling recently in an attempt to up the fitness levels. I have taken the bike up some mountain trails- which has been fun as it is a ‘hybrid’- not a full mountain bike, and has no suspension.
Today however, we were picking Will up from a cub scout weekend in Lochgoilhead, so I took my bike on the back of the car, and Michaela dropped me off to cycle up over the pass and down Hells Glen.
Hells Glen has a steep single track road that winds down through precipitous wooded slopes. Cycling down there is a white knuckle ride, with mouth firmly closed against the insect life. It is so named because it was a place once black with the fires of smelting and charcoal burning- impossible to imagine now, as few obvious traces remain.
The climb out of the Glen up to the A83 at the top of the ‘Rest and be Thankful’ is quite something. It starts out kindly- climbing through leafy Birch forest next to a lovely stream. But half way into the 700 foot climb the slope goes brutal.
Which kind of brings me to an Evangelical moment…
The road to hell is swift and seductive, but the climb in the other direction is very, very hard…
And by way of proof, a few photies;
Thanks to Si Smith for the link to this project which looks really great…
The guys behind this initiative have combined their faith and passions into a collective called ‘Earth Abbey’- their website is well worth checking out.
This is what they are about…
Sounds great.
I wonder whether we can gather something similar in Dunoon?
We have been doing a lot of work in the garden in the last few months. We had two rough aims- one was to create an outside social space- we were inspired by the Quiet Garden trust, and hope still to offer the garden as a space for others.
The other aim was to start using the green space we have to produce our own food.
And things are growing! We have already been harvesting our own salad- lovely green leaves, radishes and spring onions. And all sorts of other things are shooting upwards…
We are very fortunate to have the space to think about these things, but the thing about gardening, is that it is very hard work! We have had a gloriously sunny weekend up here- and although I spent a few hours cutting the grass, to be honest- the dilemma I have is rather summed up in this picture below-
I came across this clip on you tube the other day-
Our friend Ali is doing battle with Argyll and Bute council to try to get them to fulfill obligations to provide an allotment site in Dunoon. How do you fancy a plot like this one Ali?
On the last morning of our recent trip to Scarba, I made this little video clip.
The Whiskey bottle was emptied around our fire.
The message inside was one of the meditations we used, with our names on the back. I threw it as far as out into the Gulf of Corryvreckan as I could, in the knowledge that the whirlpool could spit it out as far as it is possible to imagine.
Was this a terrible contribution to the pollution seen in these wild places? We had a philosophy of taking only pictures and leaving only footprints. The beach that we camped next to was already littered with plastic of all colours and shapes…
Perhaps- but the romanticism of the action seemed beautiful to me. And a glass bottle- despite the risks if broken- seems to me to be more easily swallowed by the sea and made into beach glass.
If you find it, let us know!
(L to R) Simon R, Nick, David, Andy, Simon M and me
I am just back from our visit to the beautiful Scarba…
6 of us went out on Saturday, via a chartered boat from Ardfern. The intention was to find some space inside and out, and try out some of the wilderness meditations we have been working on (see here for a selection.)
Scarba is a small island Between Mull and Jura in the Inner Hebrides off the Argyll coastline. It is surrounded by some of the most dramatic tidal waters in the world. To the east is the Gulf of Corryvrecken, with it’s famous whirlpool. On the other side, the Grey dogs tidal race.
The forecast was rotten, but we had two glorious days, with the occasional shower making the sky and sea all the more dramatic. I have a sun burnt head as I forgot a hat!
We were camping, but had the use of a bothy for evenings and shelter- thanks to the owners of the Island for their generosity in letting us use it!
So we abseiled down cliffs, explored caves, scrambled over heather and bog, set up meditation walks, sat around fires, walked ancient mysterious flagged pathways, and stood on places where early Christian monks worshiped. The deer and wild goats watched from a distance, and overhead a Sea Eagle wheeled in the wind.
Oh and we laughed. We laughed a lot. Whiskey was shared and bad jokes honoured.
Single malt, smoke, sharing
Part of my motivation for visiting places like this should be obvious from what I have already written. For me, however, there are other things driving me.
Men and spirituality.
Not easy bedfellows.
Men do lots of theological arguing, and perhaps like a nice new project. But setting time aside to seek God- this tends to be a rather alien thing. A huge generalisation I know- but one that may well have some truth.
So I set to wondering whether the problem was not we blokes and the curse of trying to be masculine in the post modern age, but rather the problem was the way the Christian church has anchored and shackled spirituality to a narrow set of activities within organised structures.
What if there are other ways- old and new ways that seek God in small adventures, and in wilderness, and in communing around fires with a good bottle?
Here are some photos from our trip (click to enlarge)…
Nick and I took the canoe over Loch Eck this evening to go and explore some caves in the mountain on the other side of the Loch. It has been a beautiful early spring day, with sunshine burning off the mist early on, and temperatures climbing up to 13 degrees centigrade.
We were scouting the paper caves as a possible venue for some meditation. The paper caves were so called as the place where apparently the Campbells hid their family deeds and documents in the 17th Century- and so hold on to their land. There are several different caves, many of them challenging for people of my proportion.
It was 6.30 when we set off, and almost dark. By the time we were climbing, we needed head torches.
After sliding and inching our way into the main cave, we eventually climbed into the middle cave, where we settled down, lit some candles, and played Mozart’s Requiem mass on a small MP3 player. An awesome and surreal experience.
After spending a good while in the caves, we set off back down to the canoe, taking care as the route is steep and the path very poor.
And as we pushed off into the dark, we switched off the torches, and were treated to a moonless sky full of stars, reflected on the glassy still surface of the Loch. We paddled slowly and silently, the wake of the canoe cutting the reflection…
We headed for the lights of the Coylet Inn, where muddy and blessed, we met Michaela and Lindsay for a meal and a pint.
Life does not get much better.
Will with hood up
William has been away to the Lochgoilhead Feis this weekend, run by Lochgoilhead fiddle workshop.
He has had a ball- lessons on the Clarsach (hence the photo in the earlier post) the fiddle, and whistle, as well as Gaelic singing and pecussion.
He also had a chance to do a high ropes course, go out on a high speed boat, and shoot arrows. We missed him, but he had loads of fun.
We went to fetch him this afternoon, and to watch some of the kids put on a bit of a show. It was great to see so much enthusiasm for making music- which I think is one of those key things that holds communities together. Because Will is at a Gaelic unit in school, he has a chance to get involved in all sorts of Scottish cultural events- and it gives us such pleasure to see him soaking into the stuff of our adopted land.
A few weeks ago he went to a Celtic connections event with school, and seemed to pick up a hero in young singer Norrie MacIver, accordionist, beatboxer and member of the band Bodega. Norrie was one of the tutors at the Feis, and Will has come back full of enthusiasm- wanting to take up learning an instrument again. Thanks Norrie! We all need role models, and people to draw us on…
The weather was dreadful though! The drive down the spectacular Hells Glen is always a challenge- and when there is snow on the road it can be treacherous.
So here are some photos…
I thought it was worth posting some bits and pieces of information about some stuff in the pipeline… If you want to know more, then drop me a line…
Emerging Scotland stuff-
(For earlier posts relating to this group- see here and here.)
The next event planned is an open house weekend in Dunoon. For facebookers, the details are here.
Here’s the low down;
The next of the years meetings will be at Chris and Michaela’s house in Dunoon.
They live in a big old house with great views over the Clyde, lots of corners to chat/be quiet/pray/debate, and open fire, good company and a warm welcome… Posh it ain’t, but it is at it’s best when full of people.
Hopefully this will be a chance to meet up with new and old friends, share some ideas and to find out some specific stuff about what has been happening in Dunoon.
We will also use some of this time for prayer and retreat- setting up some prayer and worship stuff.
Depending on how things go, we might watch a film about new church stuff in Canada, do some music- who knows?
You are invited to come for as long as you like- an afternoon, a day or stay over for the weekend- we have quite a bit of space, and other members of Aoradh have more…
Personally, we believe that time spent sharing and making community is beautiful, and we hope you will not rush away.
Perhaps as we celebrate the Kingdom, we also build it.
Later in the year, we plan to have a family camping weekend, and other meets in an area near you! Further information to follow.
If you want to go on the e-mail circulation list, then let me know.
Aoradh events-
Wilderness weekend. We are heading to Scarba, Saturday the 2nd May till Monday the 4th- for a weekend on a desert island, exploring and pondering. This is one of a few trips planned- details here.
Local stuff in Dunoon. Our next evening at the Crown court cafe bar is Shrove Tuesday(Feb the 24th), when we will reprise ’40’- a Lent presentation around Jesus’ 40 days in the desert.
This is based around 40 images by Si Smith, and a script by me- which you can get hold of from Proost, if you want to use it, feel free to get in touch- we have soundscapes etc that we can let you have…
After a time, the desert seemed so big, and he, so small.
A panic rose in him. It clutched him like a hand at his throat
Who am I?
What am I?
What terrible road lies before me?
Father- my body is weak
I am a drop of water
On a rock
Under the hot desert sun
Soon I will be gone.
this fragile tent 