St Aidan

Before I left to go on this amazing journey of neolithic discovery and the Pict culturally knowing the importance of how to use light. To the revelation of latin plain song and it’s reverberating sound in a Flemish built chapel. To the observation of seeing Lindisfarne raising it’s shoulders once more and smiling with relief, knowing that the high tide had come back and that the peace, God’s peace, had been returned to the sacred spaces on this island.

As this voyage has unfolded I have become more aware of the need to understand what change might actually mean. In walking the walk with God is in itself not always easy. Often it can feel like I am climbing a ruddy big hill that seems to go on forever. Every time you look back down the mountain, knowing that if you give up at any point and descend the slope, you will only have to walk back up and the effort will be harder than before; because it was difficult to start off with. God is the encourager, he does not use a big stick, but rather a gentle hand constantly guiding the pilgrim, ever onwards to the mountain top. Once there you see the wonder of all creation spread out before you. When you have reached the top, the thirst you thought you had, vanishes, because, he has been sustaining you from the very moment you decided to trust his invitation and let him guide you on the path.

It is this guiding hand that lead me to these various and very different islands, but as my first visitor yesterday conveyed the concept that we are ‘invited’, because an invitation has been offered by God to us. This wise person is a nun living here on the island helping in a small, but important way with the hospitality of St Cuthbert’s. I discovered that she was a very visual person, there was a sense of space about her and how she saw her living here as a witness was to be conveyed to all those she had the chance to engage with.

In the same way, it was Oswald, the second son of Aethelfrith, who, having lost a battle for his Northumbria kingdom, grew up determined to regain his father’s throne and so he let the pagans among his people hear about Christianity. In 633 he won a deceive victory that allowed him to become king of Northumbria. He established a well fortified castle, by choosing a natural outcrop of rock on the North-Eastern coastline at Bamburgh that could be easily defended. He then sent an invitation to the monks of Iona, who in turn send a mission and eventually Aidan arrived with twelve monks and he chose to settle on this island that had been renamed Lindisfarne, by a new emerging society called the English. King Oswald, who had been in exile during his childhood in Ireland had learnt their native tongue was able to teach Aidan and his monks English.

I have notice as I have been to the various places that have some similarities between how Aidan and his monks worked at spreading the Word. Helping in time to build faith communities. Aidan’s model of engagement was to walk the lanes and talk to everyone he meet along the way. Finding out all he could about them, their background and the attitudes they had for their neighbours and the people they traded with. Aidan was interested in the people, he did not set himself apart from them, but immersed himself in the local communities finding the common ground in which to build new communities based on faith. In many ways this is still being played out in those who are actively engaged with their local community. I have a good friend and colleague who is trying to attract others in a faith conversation within the thirty and forty somethings of his local area. Yes he is walking the streets and meeting people, but he also delving into conversations in the pubs and café bars that littler his part of Manchester.

In many respects Aidan’s mission was to actively be part of the people’s lives, acting as a chaplain to the people, trying to and eventually succeeding in attracting them to a faith in Christ. Chaplaincy today is very much part of that involvement in other people, talking, passing the time of day, seeking an avenue where Aidan/my friend/myself can talk about faith in a friendly down to earth way, without it sounding like a “hard sell”.

In our modern world, we often think we are reinventing the wheel for the first time, but I think there is an awful lot we can still learn from people of faith like St Aidan. Church as we know it is to some extent changing. We may not like it, but we have to run with it and remember that rooted in it all is a wonderful faith that is too precious to be kept in a safe. Kept out of the light in case it fades. Kept in an airtight container in case it decays. Faith need to be on display, to be seen by the light, but we also need to touch it like a blanket that can give warmth and as well as shade, but mostly faith gives comfort that so many people are still seeking. By finding the common ground and by understanding the local context, then the invitation of faith can be expressed.

The invitation has been offered. Are we ready to accept?

A nun offered me an invitation and I accepted.
King Oswald offered an invitation and Aidan accepted.
Aidan offered an invitation and communities accepted.
God offered me an invitation and I accepted.
I offered my life as an invitation and God accepted.
My church pastorate offered me an invitation and I accepted.
I offered a faith invitation and people have accepted.

I can make the same offer to you, but do you accept the invitation?