Celtic Spirituality, July 16-17

We arrived at St. Deiniol's Residential Library on Wednesday July 18, having delivered my mother and the girls to the Victorian seaside resort of Llandudno. St. Deiniol's was founded by Sir William Gladstone in 1894, receiving additional funding from his descendants and friends. The library not only houses Gladstone's extensive collection of books (and more, of course, since then), but is also a theologically-minded conferenc and retreat center.

We're here for the library's annual Celtic Course. This year's subtitle is "Ancient Sites, Ancient Gods and a Living Faith," and we partake of all three through a combination of lectures and field-trips. There's a class of about 20 students, many of whom are from the US as part of Drew Theological Seminary's DMin program. Also there are several retired English persons and another American pastor on Sabbatical.

Our first lecturer was Ian Bradley, who teaches at St. Andrew's University, Scotland, and (apparently) is a well-known broadcaster on BBC-2 radio; he's also written a number of books. Ian's first task was to debunk "Celtic Christianity" by poking with delightful, cynical quips at the romantic notions that most of us had. He quoted JRR Tolkien: "'Celtic' is a magic bag into which almost anything can be put, and from which almost anything can be taken." There's little evidence to support most of what's marketed as "Celtic" these days.

What we do know about Christianity in the British Isles in the 6th - 12th centuries: It was monastic in character (communal, but not necessarily single-sex); with a strong tradition of pilgrimage (moving frequently, not necessarily having a long-term home-base); and a deep connection to the saints as role models. Dreams played an important role in its mysticism; and springs or wells became sacred places since they represented baptism, quenching of thirst and healing.

To illustrate those ideas, we took a tour bus over highways and some very narrow streets, to the Llyn Peninsula where centuries of pilgrims have made their way west. Like them, we visited two shrines (now churches) dedicated to St. Beuno, a travelling monastic who covered extraordinary territory in Wales making converts, beginning communities and then moving on.

The final stop was the Church of St. Hywyn at the very western tip of the peninsula, near the point where one could take a boat if the weather was good, to Bardsey Island, where 20,000 saints are reputedly buried. (Hmm. It's not that big.) We did not have a boat to check the facts in person. But the vicar there at St. Hywyn's led us in a meditation, asking us to think of our life as a journey to the west, stopping at holy places for refreshment before moving on. To paraphrase a quote from the 6th century Irish saint Columbanus (not to be confused with Columba): "Life is a way, a roadway. We walk upon it, we do not dwell in one place. For some the road is long, for others short; for some it is happy, for others it is sad. But we are all seeking a homeland in the west, there to dwell eternally."

May your journey this week be blessed by God, keeper of roads and resting places.

-Susan Williams