Editor’s Note: This is a repost from the original God the Father Reimagined post, and is part of a larger series on God the Father. We are reposting this in honor of the upcoming Father’s Day.
Since writing yesterday’s post I have thought a lot about my reaction to the idea of God as father. Where does my struggle with God as Father come from? It occurred to me yesterday as I basked in the images of the loving, caring, generous father I wrote about that my struggle begins not with the patriarchal images that we often get hung up on, but with the expulsion from the garden of Eden. How could this possibly be the action of a loving, caring God I have often thought? More like the angry, violent parent I grew up with.
So today I want to do something that you might think a little strange. I am going to reimagine this narrative from the perspective of what I think a loving parent would do and why.
God the mother gave birth to humankind and God the father went out and built a home for his children to live – a beautiful garden dwelling that we call the Garden of Eden. In this wonderful protective environment men and women grew up, walking and playing with God the father and mother in the evenings. All their needs for shelter and food were met by God who hovered around them like a good protective parent. They had a few chores to perform but no responsibility to work for their own provision.
Then they grew up and into the rebellious teenage years when they started to look around and realize that there was a great big world outside the garden that they wanted to explore. In this world, their protective father warned them, there was both good and evil. It is a world, he told them, in which they would now have to toil for their own food and work hard to provide for themselves and their own children. But humankind did not listen. They no longer wanted to be protected from the big bad world, they wanted to find their own way.
So God let them go. God the father sent them away from home out into the world where they would have to fend for themselves. He had given them a good education in how to till the soil and make it flourish but only he knew how much work this involved. Mother God sewed clothes, gave them food and sent them on their way, knowing that life would not be easy for them and that hardship and anguish lay ahead.
God knew his kids would mess up – fighting and killing each other, oppressing and enslaving each other, show greed, prejudice, hatred. He knew he would have to continue watching over them rescuing them as a good father would when they got into trouble, healing them as a loving mother when they got hurt and providing for them when they used up all their resources. But God loved them and knew that for them to come to full maturity they needed to take responsibility for their own actions. To find wholeness and be able to embrace eternal life as God wanted them too he needed to let them go and allow them to make mistakes. He knew that only in this way would they really become mature adults.
I think that it is this kind of narrative that is hidden in the parables and miracles of Jesus:
Good Shepherd Jesus Mafa
God the father is the shepherd who leaves 99 sheep to find the one who has gone astray is God our father tirelessly following the most wayward of his sheep.
God the father is Jesus reaching out to heal the only son of a widow who has been ostracized by her society and has no means of provision or protection without him.
God the father is Jesus sitting on the mountain distributing 2 fish and 5 loaves to feed 5,000 because he wants to remind us of the generosity of good parents.
Rembrandt van Rijn, The Return of the Prodigal Son, c. 1661–1669. 262 cm × 205 cm. Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg public domain
God the Father, is the father who welcomes home all prodigal sons and daughters who have strayed, used up their money, become homeless, turned to drugs, or committed criminal acts and finally recognize that father together with God the mother, really does know best and will still provide a safe haven.
God our Father longs for us to come back home, and at great cost to himself, He has even set up a a well lit pathway – Jesus Christ the way, the truth and the life – to guide us.
For me personally, thinking about this imagery of a loving father protecting, providing for and guiding his children together with images of God the mother working together, is both renewing and healing. What do you think?
This is part of my series on God as Father. You may like to check out the full series:
Meditation Monday: The Father heart of God
Let’s Get Creative for Father’s Day
And for those who want to balance this with maternal images of God check out my posts from the week before Mother’s day:
Meditation Monday – Connecting to the Mother heart of God
Biblical Maternal Images of God by Shiao Chong
Maternal Images of God – a video and a prayer
Let’s Get Creative – Honouring Our Mothers
Anselm’s Prayer to St Paul: Our Greatest Mother
It’s almost time to choose a winner! Will it be you? If you haven’t entered yet, click here for details on how to enter and get bonus entries. It’s like getting extra raffle tickets – but for free! Christine Sine is giving away two copies of her newest book, Digging Deeper: The Art of Contemplative Gardening. Winner will be announced at the Digging Deeper Webinar on June 25th!
by Melissa Taft
In Case You Missed It:
New Theme
Godspace is sporting a new theme! Living as Christ Live: Towards Justice, Love, and Peace for All Creation hopes to inspire you to love, to uphold justice, to act with peace for all creation. Christine Sine kicked off our new theme with a Meditation Monday on The Value of Naming. How can we live towards justice, love, and peace for all creation with our labels? From the article:
“This example inspired me not just to rename the animals, birds, and people around me, but also to learn the hope-filled names of places and plants given as the results of destructive actions, replacing violence with language and symbols of the peace that surrounds us. My mind always goes to the peace rose that has an incredible history of survival and naming as a result of WWII. Then there are the trees that survived the horrors of the Hiroshima nuclear explosion. There are 170, known as peace trees. Seeds from them are now being sent around the world. There is also a pear tree that survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It is known as the survivor tree. I find hope and inspiration in the resilience and survival of these trees. They encourage me to believe that by renaming important structures around us, we could one day see an end to war, gun violence, and the destruction of creation.”
Be on the lookout for different ways we hope to explore what it means to live as Christ lived with an emphasis on justice, love, and peace for all creation. Summer and winter are seasons of hospitality, for different reasons, and as it is about to be summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the Southern Hemisphere, we will be posting some of our Hospitality resources. We also will explore our theme through creativity and art such as poetry, which are such important expressions of intent.
Upcoming Webinar
We are offering a FREE WEBINAR on Christine Sine’s new book! On Saturday June 25th at 9:30 AM PT, Christine will be discussing her new book and inviting participation and discussions for those who are interested in learning about the art of contemplative gardening. There will even be an opportunity for show-and-tell! Bring along one item you would like to incorporate in a contemplative garden or a photo of your already created contemplative garden and join the fun discussion.
For all the details and to sign up, visit tinyurl.com/DiggingDeeperWebinar or click here. If you sign up before 9 pm PT Friday June 24th, you will automatically be entered into the giveaway to WIN a copy of Digging Deeper: The Art of Contemplative Gardening. Which brings us to the next #ICYMI:
Digging Deeper Giveaway
Christine Sine is giving away two copies of her new book. There are multiple ways to enter, meaning more chances for your name to get picked – much like a raffle! The winners will be announced during the webinar. For more information or to enter visit tinyurl.com/DiggingDeeperGiveaway or click here.
Of course, you don’t need to wait for the giveaway – you can get a copy of Digging Deeper on our website or directly via Amazon. We have been encouraged by those of you who already own a copy and have entered the giveaway regardless – some of you intending to gift the copy if you win to a loved one. We are enjoying the feedback and reviews that have come for the book – such as this comment by Anya Almgren on the Godspace Light Community Group on Facebook:
I’ve been reading it to my mom as we’ve been sitting on our porch, enjoying the gorgeous day today. We were almost half-way through it and had to stop to jot down ideas for our own contemplative gardens. My mom hasn’t been able to garden and struggles with focusing, doing, and completing creative projects since her stroke last summer; and, yet, this seems doable to her and something she’s inspired to try. She appreciates that these gardens can change over time and that she can work on them in stages, at her own pace, while contemplating how the Holy Spirit is leading her. Thank you, Christine!
Isn’t that lovely? If you, too, would like to learn about the creative and flexible art of contemplative gardens, don’t miss your chance to enter!
#ICYMI Post Round-Up
Our FreeRange Friday favorite Lilly Lewin had some guest contributors write for her column while she was out of town – and came back with this powerful entreaty on pilgrimage. Be sure not to miss it – or the Facebook Live inspired by her pilgrimage to sacred places!
Keren Dibbens-Wyatt closed out our previous theme Restoring Rhythms and Seasons with this beautiful and personal contemplation on Seasons of Hope. From the post: “I want to speak hope into the lives of the desperate, tell what I know of hanging on to the truth that God is love, even in dark, dank corners. I want to give that six-year-old me the magical stories that kept her going, and the thirty-year-old me spiritual guidance. I want to reach out with my imagination and paint my roses and push on the backs of wardrobes, and let myself bloom in the garden.”
Our new resource page for holidays and observances has struck a chord with many of you. Godspace continues to proudly be a resource for seasons of the church and other celebrations – our most popular post of the past 30 days was unsurprisingly our Pentecost Resource post. We are so delighted to be a source of inspiration for your personal and liturgical walks.
Explore the wonderful ways that God and God’s story are revealed through the rhythms of planting, growing, and harvesting. Spiritual insights, practical advice for organic backyard gardeners, and time for reflection will enrich and deepen faith–sign up for 180 days of access to work at your own pace and get ready for your gardening season.
Editor’s Note: Today is Flag Day in America, a day that celebrates identity for Americans. The imagery of an American Flag is powerful for many Americans, one that has been poignantly used in many crucial moments of history. Christine touches on how flags speak to our identity below, and how she used these identifying markers to transform her Easter Garden into a Pentecost one. We are now in Ordinary Time – or more aptly put, Pentecost Season, so reposting this felt relevant in our current theme and season. We hope this helps you live into Pentecost Season; Living as Christ Lived: Towards Justice, Love and Peace for All Creation.
You can find the original post here. And as a fun side note, this garden is included in Christine’s latest book Digging Deeper: The Art of Contemplative Gardening. She goes into more depth about it there – which you could read about if you are one of the lucky winners in next week’s book giveaway! That’s right, we are giving away two copies of her new book. To enter and for all the details, visit tinyurl.com/DiggingDeeperGiveaway or click here!
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My Easter garden has undergone its final transformation. Last week I splurged on a pack of 100 Different Country flags and over the weekend added as many flags as I could to my garden to form a Pentecost prayer garden. What resonates most with me about Pentecost is that the crowds that gathered in Jerusalem that day didn’t all speak the same language, they understood each other in their own languages across the barriers of culture and race. Pentecost speaks to me of global unity and understanding. As I planted my flags, I realized how few of them I could identify. Even when I prayed for India I had to do a Google search to identify its flag before I could make sure it was prominently displayed. It made me wonder if one important step in reaching for cultural understanding is to learn to identify the flags of our neighbours all around the world. So I went hunting and came up with some fascinating facts thanks to this helpful article. He explains:
Did you know that Denmark holds the Guinness world record for the oldest continuously used national flag? Mozambique is the only country in the world whose flag incorporates a modern weapon – an AK 47 – representing vigilance and defense and South Africa’s flag contains the greatest variety of colours. The UK flag consists of the crosses of St George, St Patrick and St Andrew. Interestingly St George who is the patron saint of England was probably born in Cappadocia to a Syrian mother. He is thought to have died in Lyydia in the Roman province of Palestine.
Flags speak of our identity both personal and national and our feelings towards them tell us a lot about our feelings towards our own country and those of our global neighbours. I realized this as I held my Australian and American flags in my hand this morning and placed them side by side in my garden. I have much stronger feelings towards the Australian flag and towards Australia, in spite of the fact that I have not lived there for almost 50 years. It is past time for me to seek for great understanding of the culture into which I have been transplanted and grown over the last 30 years.
One of the disciplines I have decided to institute as part of my Pentecost celebration this year is learning to identify as many national flags as possible and in the process I plan to learn a little about the countries they represent in the desire to do what little I can for global understanding, peace and unity.
Evolution of a Garden
Contemplative garden – Time for Love
You may remember that this garden began as my Time to Love garden, in which I planted seeds and arranged several heart shaped stones as a symbol of both hope and of the love of God most evident in Easter season. The garden evolved when I noticed that the plants were crowding each other out and so I transplanted most of them into small pots to nurture them until they were big enough to plant out in the garden. This weekend I planted most of them into their permanent places in the garden, hopefully ready to grow and produce blossom and fruit amongst the other already established plants. On that occasion, I commented:
For the seedlings that have sprouted to produce their full harvest, they must be uprooted, transplanted and eventually replanted all around the garden. Maybe they will even take the love stones with them or need some new and bigger “love stones” around them.
As I reread this today I feel as though I want to go out and create a whole garden of heart shaped stepping stones to arrange around my plants. I think that we all need new and bigger love stones around us in order to more effectively work towards the unity that God calls us to at Pentecost. Identifying national flags is only a small step in trying to bridge the gulfs that lie between us and I am wondering what else could I do in the next few weeks to help inspire global peace and unity?
What Is Your Response?
How many national flags can you identify? Or how many languages can you say good morning in? What could you do to improve your understanding of other cultures by simply learning to identify their flags or to say “Good Morning” in their languages.
What are the most powerful symbols of global unity that you are aware of this Pentecost? How could you use these to gain deeper understanding of the cultures around you at this season?
What is one practice you could institute over the next couple of weeks to help further this understanding?
TOMORROW! Join Christine Sine and June Friesen live in the Godspace Light Community Group for a Facebook Live discussion on what inspires June’s photography and daily reflections. Can’t join live? Keep your eye on Christine’s YouTube Channel for the recording to be uploaded later!
Last week one of my brothers sent me an article about Tom Uren – a man who was not just a friend and mentor, but more of a father figure, to the new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. When I read the article I wept. Tom Uren was an amazing man. He was one of the larger-than-life figures of my childhood, though I did not really appreciate him. A hard-core Labour politician, greatly respected, and a man of integrity. Maybe not what we think is a recipe for a man loved and used by God, but so he was.
What formed the trajectory of his life was his experiences during WWII. He was captured by the Japanese and sent to work on the infamous Burmese railway which resulted in the deaths of thousands of young men. Tom Uren had been a heavyweight boxer in Sydney, and was still a big man in spite of his starvation. He would place his body in front of other prisoners, especially the small and vulnerable, to stop them being beaten to death by the prison guards.
Towards the end of the war he was transported to Japan to slave in a copper smelter at Saganoseki. On August 9, 1945, he saw the sky turn an unearthly violet colour, twenty times more vivid than a sunset, when the atomic bomb was dropped on the distant port of Nagasaki.
These experiences did not destroy Uren as they did many others, they made him resolve to use the lessons as a framework for his life. Chief among those lessons was the effort of his commander on the death railway, the surgeon Edward “Weary” Dunlop, to harness the means of the entire camp for the good of all. Evidently, Dunlop ordered Australian officers – who received a small allowance – to contribute to a fund to buy simple medicines and black-market food for sick POWs. In that camp, POWs died at a much lower rate than in surrounding camps where this was not the policy. “The healthy looked after the sick, the strong looked after the weak, the young looked after the old,” he’d tell anyone who’d listen.” (SMHS I love the boy: The Gift Our Prime Minister Received from a Bamboo Prison)
Collectivism, concern for neighbour, especially for the vulnerable, strong advocacy for peace and nuclear disarmament, ardent environmentalism, became the central passion of his life. That’s why he became a father to a young man who had no father, a young man who would one day become Australia’s Prime Minister, and who began his election campaign by saying: “We will look after the young, we will look after the sick, we will look after our older Australians. No one held back. No one left behind” – showing that same passion as the man who had helped shape his life.
Tom Uren was not a man of faith as we understand it but I think he was a man deeply loved by God and his life was a wonderful example of God’s love poured out to those around him. As I reflect on his life today I wonder how many other young men and women, deeply loved by God, who live as Christ would live, we disregard because they don’t call themselves Christians.
I think that the love of God is present within all people. Sometimes buried deep within the soul. Sometimes a ray of light and life to all those they come in contact with.
Take time today to think about the men and women you know who radiate the love of God and the life of Christ, even though they don’t call themselves Christians. Some of them may not be well known like Tom Uren. In fact they might only be known by you and a few others. Make a list. Is there some way you could reach out and thank them for their love, generosity and life?
That’s right, Christine Sine is giving away two copies of her latest book, Digging Deeper: The Art of Contemplative Gardening!
Just a little less than TWO WEEKS left to enter – June 24th is the last day for your entries to be counted! Click here for more information!
A contemplative service with music in the spirit of Taize. Carrie Grace Littauer, prayer leader, with music by Kester Limner and Andy Myers.
Permission to podcast/stream the music in this service obtained from One License with license #A-710-756 with additional notes below:
by Christine Sine
Editor’s Note: This is a repost of a Meditation Monday found here.
Last week for Pentecost Sunday I decided to walk around my garden photographing all the red flowers to fill my life with a little Pentecostal fire. It was so much fun. There were red roses and poppies, geraniums and lupines, and my stunning epiphyllum cactus orchid flowering in all its magnificence on my front porch. Then around the neighbourhood I saw red rhododendrons, camellias and lilies. Such a display, so much diversity. I couldn’t help but chuckle at these fiery displays that seemed to cry out “happy birthday to the church”.
Red rose
Red lupine
Red poppy
Red Epiphyllum cactus orchid
Celebrating the Trinity
This week, as we celebrated Trinity Sunday yesterday, I decided to look for flowers and leaves with a tripartite structure that reflected the three in one nature of the Trinity – God is One in three – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It was a great deal of fun and it emphasized for me yet again how much we miss out on when we don’t know how to connect the glory of creation to the story of our faith.
The most familiar trinitarian symbol is the Irish shamrock, Oxalis acetosella, with its three-lobed leaves, which St. Patrick supposedly pointed out to the Irish as a symbol of the true Trinitarian God of whom he preached to them, and in whose name he blessed nature to sanctify it. I prefer the brilliant display of this purple shamrock, however.
Purple shamrock
There are lots of other plants that bear the Trinity symbolism too, many of them with three-petaled flowers that represented Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
My favourite is Trillium grandiflorum, a native of north-eastern and north-western U.S. known as the Trillium lily because it is said to symbolize the Trinity. Both its flower and leaves are tripartite – talk about wonderful imagery for us to meditate on.
Trillium Lily – Jean Andrianoff
Other plants bear the Trinity symbolism too, from their three-petaled flowers. In Europe, the wild pansy, or johnny-jump-up, viola tricolor, was also widely known as Trinity Flower – for the three colors of each of its flowers, from which familiar present-day larger pansies blooms have been bred with one or two colors usually dominant.
hybrid pansy
An interesting aspect of bred pansy strains is that though one colour may dominate, the other two colors are always preserved at the centers of the blooms. Thus, pansies of yellow dominance may be seen to symbolize the glory of the heavenly Father; purple: the sorrows of the incarnate Son; and white: the light of the empowering Holy Spirit – with the other colors in each instance always retained at the center, serving to remind us that whenever one of the Persons of the Trinity is present the others are present also, in the unity of the Godhead of love. What a delight to walk around my pansy display and examine this aspect of their beautiful sunny faces.
Aloe Vera – a Different Trinitarian Symbol
I was amazed to discover that Aloe vera, that great healing plant, also known as a miracle plant, burn plant, first aid plant, lily of the desert, jelly leek, plant of life and plant of immortality because of its many uses can also be seen as a symbol of the Trinity. Its Trinity symbolism refers to the characteristic successive emergence of new foliage spears from the base of young plants in groups of three – first two beginning spears, and then a third one between them – reflecting the emergence of the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son in the interior of the Trinity.
Aloe vera
Today I discovered that the strawberry plant with its beautiful serrated tripartite leaf was another plant used to teach about the Trinity.
Strawberry leaf
There are many other plants that have Biblical significance – some of them because they are mentioned in the Bible, others because they have been associated with various aspects of the Biblical story, and now I find that every time I look at a flower or the arrangement of new leaves on a plant that I am looking for that trinitarian pattern. How about you? When was the last time that you looked intentionally at a plant with the hope of once more finding the imprint of our Triune God?
Maybe you don’t get as excited about garden plants as I do, but perhaps there are other symbols that speak to you of the nature of God and encourage you to draw close and worship. Even our finger with its three bones was used as a representation of the Trinity by Celtic Christians as is evident in this Celtic prayer.
I love connecting the symbols of our world and daily life to the biblical story and encourage you to do so too. If you have never done this before or even if you have, I encourage you to check out our Sacred Summer retreat, which is an online course where we explore other fun symbols through which we can enrich our relationship with God.
Join Christine Sine and June Friesen live in the Godspace Light Community Group for a Facebook Live discussion on what inspires June’s photography and daily reflections. Can’t join live? Keep your eye on Christine’s YouTube Channel for the recording to be uploaded later!
By Lilly Lewin
Yesterday, June 9th, is the day we remember St. Columba of Iona, also known as Colm Cille/Colmcille which means the Dove of the Church. St Columba was an Irish monk born into the Irish royal family who instead of ruling from a throne, traveled to the island of Iona to establish a monastic center of learning and Christian mission. Columba took with him twelve followers and he set sail from Ireland landing on Iona in 563 AD. There are two fun videos at the end of this post you can watch and learn more about St. Columba and the history of Iona and the founding of Scotland itself.
st columba’s bay
St Columba’s Bay
The Celtic Christians knew that God could be seen best in places of beauty and Columba felt God spoke not only through Scripture, but also through the wind and rain, the sea and the sky and even the rocks and stones of Iona and highlands of Scotland.
Iona Stones
Columba’s Bay iona
The monastic community that grew on Iona gained fame and impacted all of Scotland and Northern England. Kings sent their children to learn there and chose to be buried there. Along with learning, craftsmanship in stone and silver and iron were thriving on Iona. The first High Cross was created on Iona and I learned this trip that possibly the first Celtic Cross, the circle with the cross on top of it, was also first seen on Iona. Before my recent trip, I believed it was in Ireland first because of St. Patrick.) The High Cross in front of the Abbey today has stood in that spot for 1200 years! It has the oldest image of the Madonna and Child in all of Europe along with Daniel in the lion’s den.
St. Martin’s Cross
High Celtic Cross ..St Martin’s Cross
One legend has it that St Columba had to leave Ireland because of a war over an illuminated manuscript. Columba had hand-copied the book of Psalms without permission. The Abbot Finian found out and knew it would be wonderful so he wanted to keep it at his church not share it with Columba. This became a clan war and many people died over this Psalter. As a penance for the losses, Columba left Ireland to save as many souls as were lost in battle. And he did that and much more!
And speaking of illuminated manuscripts, one of the most famous is The Book of Kells and was most likely created on Iona or at least begun by the monks on Iona and perhaps later finished in Kells. You can see it today at Trinity College, in Dublin.
book of kells
St. Columba is famous for many prayers. He had a special hut built in front of the abbey where he wrote and prayed and read the bible daily. He is also famous for giving his community (and all of us ) a blessing on his deathbed.
“I give to you, my children, these final words: ‘Be at peace with one another, bound together by mutual and unfeigned love. If you do this, according to the example of the ancient fathers, God, who gives strength to the righteous, will bless you: and I, abiding with Him, shall intercede for you. Not only will God provide all things needed for this present life, but He shall prepare for you the blessings of eternity.”
St Columba’s last reported words of blessing in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 767.
What would it be like if we truly lived into being at peace with one another? What if we all chose to be bound together in mutual love?
How would you need to think differently or act differently?
With whom would you need to reconcile?
Take time to today to pray for peace for any conflict in your life.
Like Columba, pray for your community to have more peace and less conflict. Pray against the spirit of fear and disunity…in your own life, in the lives of your friends and family and in your country.
It is said that the last thing St. Columba wrote down, was Psalm 34 ( this is just the first 10 verses)
Take time this week to sit with this psalm . Pray with it.
What do you notice? What does the Holy Spirit high light for you?
I will praise the Lord at all times.
I will constantly speak his praises.
2 I will boast only in the Lord;
let all who are helpless take heart.
3 Come, let us tell of the Lord’s greatness;
let us exalt his name together.
4 I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me.
He freed me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces.
6 In my desperation I prayed, and the Lord listened;
he saved me from all my troubles.
7 For the angel of the Lord is a guard;
he surrounds and defends all who fear him.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!
9 Fear the Lord, you his godly people,
for those who fear him will have all they need.
10 Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry,
but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing. PSALM 34
YOUR RESPONSE:
Take time to journal in response to this psalm. If you like art, create an illuminated manuscript by rewriting it in colorful pencils or markers, or just by printing it out and decorating the page. Or you might create your own original art in response to or inspired by the psalm.
Take a walk outside, like the monks of Iona did often. Let the wind, the rain, the trees and even the stones speak to you of God.
PRAY one of St. Columba’s Prayers with me:
Let me bless Almighty God,
whose power extends over sea and land,
whose angels watch over all.
Let me study sacred books to calm my soul:
I pray for peace,
kneeling at heaven’s gates.
Let me do my daily work,
gathering seaweed, catching fish,
giving food to the poor.
Let me say my daily prayers,
sometimes chanting, sometimes quiet,
always thanking God.
Delightful it is to live
on a peaceful isle, in a quiet cell,
serving the King of kings.
And Receive again the saint’s blessing:
“I give to you, my children, these final words: ‘Be at peace with one another, bound together by mutual and unfeigned love. If you do this, according to the example of the ancient fathers, God, who gives strength to the righteous, will bless you: and I, abiding with Him, shall intercede for you. Not only will God provide all things needed for this present life, but He shall prepare for you the blessings of eternity.”
St Columba’s last reported words of blessing in Celtic Daily Prayer (New York: Harper Collins, 2002) 767.
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