Chapel of the Cross, Chapel Hill, NC

The first time we met as pilgrims at the Chapel of the Cross, we were asked why we had been drawn to this journey. Some answered that they had read extensively about Celtic spirituality and it would be intriguing to travel to Scotland with soul friends. Others mentioned Scottish ancestry and still others were drawn by a love of Celtic art, music and dance. The first night we were together in Scotland we were again asked this question, and this time our answers were much more insightful and personal. One pilgrim had traveled with us because a friend, who has since died, had encouraged her to join our group. Several travelers, who had been on former pilgrimages with our leader, had experienced "thin" places, places where they had felt a particular closeness of God's presence, and this had brought them back again. Some were struggling from a spiritual hunger, in search of a God we all long to know more intimately. A community was formed that evening - all of us searching for more meaning in our lives, spiritual growth, and opportunities to hear God speak to us and for us to listen.

Our leader was Sister Cintra Pemberton, a member of the Episcopal Order of St. Helena for the past 25 years, and now residing in Augusta, Georgia. This was to be Cintra's last pilgrimage. Our parish leaders were Tammy Lee and Gretchen Jordan. One of the best gifts of the journey was how beautifully organized the entire trip was. Every room reservation, every need for transportation, every meal, every museum ticket, every detail had been tended to, allowing us the luxury of being served and the freedom just to be.

Over a two-week period we found ourselves traveling to holy places, walking through trees that formed a cathedral ceiling high overhead as we wound our way to a beach that had rounded rocks with veins of silica running through them forming a cross, holding Eucharistic services in historic abbey ruins and an ancient castle, hiking slippery slopes holding hands to help one another reach the top of an ancient fort and to a beach where we had to wait for sheep to pass; washing our faces at a holy well. We visited ancient sites and museums seeing man-made things 4,000 to 5,000 years old. We heard fascinating and inspiring lectures and reflections by Philip Newell and Ian Bradley, and we worshipped on Sundays in small Anglican churches where hospitality was beyond gracious. We prayed together for one another, and quietly reflected on all we were experiencing.

Our richest time was on the Isle of Iona. It took a day to reach Iona and it seemed like we were traveling to the end of the earth. As we neared the island, the light shining through the clouds was exquisite. The simplicity of the island makes it a special place of spiritual significance. At the St. Columba Hotel where we stayed there are no phones, no televisions, and no keys to the rooms. The sheep keep the natural 18-hole golf course cropped! The Scottish isles have a natural beauty made green by almost daily rains, but when the sun comes out there are magnificent rainbows and they are almost daily, too.

We are deeply grateful for the ones who led us and for those who were travelers on the road with us. We began our time together with no expectations and that made every bit of our journey even more of a gift.

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