Theopoetics

It is cold and rainy this last full day on Iona.

Not too much different than three

out of the last

five days

but somehow more – what?

Distressing?

Disquieting?

Ah, no. Insulting. 

That's what it is.

I mean, wouldn’t you think that the Isle would be

a wee better host

by offering up a beautiful day

on our last full day here?

Not just for me, of course, but for us all.

The whole group.

We are Americans, after all,

used to getting

what we paid for.

It’s just rude, is all.

That's what it is.

Do you suppose

I’m

thinking like a

Tourist

and not like a

Pilgrim?

Ah, guilty as charged.

Perhaps I have

inadvertently stumbled

onto a Great Truth

which all Pilgrims

eventually come to know:

The Thinnest of Thin Places

is not always to be found

on a day filled

with beautiful sunshine

sparkling on turquoise water

and white sand.

Sometimes, it is a wet,

windy,

gray

chill-you-to-the-bone

kinda day,

alone with only your

own thoughts and prayers

sitting by the window

watching the sheep graze.

                                                                         

Iona, Scotland 5/31/19

                                                                     

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