God Of The Uncharted Ways - A Virtual Pilgrimage 6/10

Welcome to the Circle of Time! Today, our pilgrimage led us to the windswept moors of the Hebrides to stand in the awesome presence of ancient stone circles. After glimpsing them on Day 2, we returned to them as our sacred destination, connecting with the deep history of the land, pondering the enduring human search for the Divine, and reflecting on how the early Celtic Christians engaged with these pre-existing sacred sites.

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Transcript

Hello,

And welcome back to God of the Uncharted Ways.

Yesterday we found a deep and profound peace in the solitude of a remote Hebridean beach.

Today,

On our sixth day,

Our pilgrimage path leads us back to a place of ancient mystery.

On our second day,

We glimpsed the standing stones as silent witnesses to a faith that came before.

Today,

Our journey brings us back to them,

Not just as a backdrop,

But as our sacred destination.

Our time together is a cherished opportunity to step away from the noise,

To quiet the heart,

And to listen for the loving voice of God in ways both new and ancient.

As a gentle reminder,

You'll hear a chime at the halfway point of our walk.

If you're not on a circular path,

This is your cue to begin your return journey.

So,

Let's take a deep breath.

Let the rhythm of your steps settle your spirit.

And let's walk into the presence of deep time.

After the solitude of the beach,

Our path today leads us to a different kind of quiet,

A silence weighted with the passage of thousands of years.

Imagine we are walking a faint track across an open,

Wind-swept moor.

In the distance,

We see them.

A circle of great,

Grey stones,

Stark against the horizon.

We stand at the intersection of time,

History,

And eternity.

Connecting with a human past that is almost impossibly distant.

Pondering the mystery of God's work through all ages,

And feeling the deep,

Resonant endurance.

Of faith itself.

As you begin your walk,

Imagine this slow approach to a sacred site like Kalanish on the Isle of Lewis.

As you walk,

Imagine this slow approach.

Feel the springy,

Uneven ground of the moorland beneath your feet.

See the colours of the landscape.

The purple and brown of the heather.

The rusty red of the bracken.

The deep green mosses,

All under a vast,

Ever-changing sky.

The stones grow larger with every step,

Their presence more powerful.

Feel a sense of reverence,

Of approaching a place that has been held sacred for longer than human memory can count.

Take a deep breath of the cool,

Clean moorland air.

As you inhale,

Imagine you are breathing in the very atmosphere of deep time.

Of ages past.

As you exhale,

Release your modern sense of urgency.

Your need for immediate answers and quick explanations.

This is a place that invites us into wondering.

Into mystery.

Into awe.

And now you have arrived.

Imagine yourself stepping into the circle of stones.

They tower over you.

Silent.

Immense.

And weathered by 5,

000 years of wind and rain.

Walk slowly around the inside of the circle,

Tracing its ancient boundary with your steps.

Reach out in your imagination and place your hand on one of the great megaliths.

Feel its rough,

Lichen-covered texture.

Its profound coldness.

Its unshakable rootedness in the earth.

This is a place where human hands,

So long ago,

Reached for heaven.

Allow the profound antiquity and sacred mystery of this place to infuse your walk and your spirit.

We are standing in a place like Kalanish on the Isle of Lewis.

A breathtakingly complex site with a central circle and avenues of stones radiating outwards.

It's older than the pyramids of Giza.

Older than Stonehenge.

Its purpose is a profound mystery.

Was it a celestial observatory?

A lunar calendar etched in stone?

A great ritual center?

Perhaps it was all of these and more.

What we know for certain is that this was a place of immense significance.

Constructed with incredible effort by people who possessed a deep,

If to us enigmatic,

Spiritual understanding of their world.

These stones bear silent witness to a fundamental human truth.

The innate desire to connect with a reality greater than ourselves.

To find order in the cosmos.

To mark out sacred space where human and the divine can intersect.

This is a profound echo of the same restlessness that Augustine spoke of.

The same yearning that animates our own pilgrimage today.

Centuries,

Even millennia later,

When Celtic Christian missionaries arrived in these lands,

They encountered these powerful ancient sites.

Their response was remarkable.

Instead of always seeking to obliterate them,

They often recognized the sincere spiritual impulse behind their creation.

They seemed to possess a spiritual confidence that allowed them to engage with,

Rather than simply condemn,

The echoes of ancient faith they found in the land.

Sometimes they would build their small chapels within sight of the great stone circles.

As if to say,

The God whom you have been seeking,

The great power behind the sun and moon that you tracked with these stones,

Has now revealed himself fully and personally in Jesus Christ.

At other times,

They would even Christianize the stones themselves.

Carving intricate Celtic crosses onto their ancient surfaces.

This was not an act of erasure,

But a fulfillment.

A baptism of the land's ancient spiritual longings.

It was a powerful declaration that the God of Jesus Christ was not a new,

Foreign deity,

But the Ancient of Days.

The Creator God who had been present and active all along.

What can these silent,

Steadfast stones teach us today?

They can teach us about the vastness of God's story.

Standing here,

Our own lives and immediate concerns can feel very small.

There is a comfort in that.

It places us within a story so much larger than ourselves.

The epic story of God's relationship with humanity across all time.

It can teach us respect for the journey of others.

The Celtic Christian approach encourages us to look with grace upon the spiritual journeys of others.

Even those whose expressions of faith are very different from our own.

We can trust that God is at work in ways we may not understand.

They can teach us about a faith that endures.

These stones have withstood 5,

000 years of Atlantic gales and cultural shifts.

They are a powerful metaphor for an enduring faith.

One that is not swayed by passing trends,

But is rooted deeply in the eternal reality of God.

And they can teach us about embracing mystery.

In our information-saturated age,

We crave answers.

The standing stones offer none.

They only offer mystery,

Silence,

And awe.

They invite us to be comfortable with not knowing.

To be humble before the vastness of God's work.

And to simply stand in wonder.

As we continue our walk among these ancient sentinels,

Let their silent wisdom seep into our souls.

Let them ground us in a faith that is both deeply personal and part of a story that spans the ages.

Let's take some time to pray,

Acknowledging the God of all ages,

The beginning and end of our faith.

O God,

The Ancient of Days,

The Rock of Ages.

Before the mountains were brought forth,

Or ever you had formed the earth and the world,

From everlasting to everlasting,

You are God.

We stand in awe and humility in this sacred place.

Surrounded by the silent witnesses of these stones,

Echoes of a faith and a seeking that stretch back beyond our comprehension.

We thank you for the enduring mystery of the human heart.

You created a heart that has always yearned for you,

Reaching for you in the patterns of the stars,

In the turning of the seasons,

In the very stones of the earth.

We honour the sincere search of all who have gone before us,

The great cloud of witnesses,

Both known and unknown,

Who formed the vast family of faith through time.

We thank you for the wisdom you gave to the early saints of these isles,

Who saw not just pagan stones,

But evidence of a deep spiritual hunger that only you could truly satisfy.

Thank you for their courage to bring the light of Christ,

Not to conquer,

But to fulfil.

Not to erase,

But to illuminate and give name to the unknown God people had long worshipped.

Lord,

In the face of such time,

Grant us perspective.

Root our fleeting lives in the soil of your eternal faith.

Grant us faithfulness.

When we are battered by the storms of our own age,

Remind us of the faith that has endured for millennia.

Help us to build our own lives on you,

Our unshakable rock.

Teach us to embrace holy mystery,

To be comfortable with questions that have no easy answers,

And to find you not only in clarity,

But in the profound,

Sacred silence of awe.

Connect us,

We pray,

To that great,

Enduring story of your love for humanity,

And help us to play our own small part with faithfulness,

Courage,

And a deep sense of peace.

Amen.

Once you're home and settled,

Here are some journaling questions you might like to work with.

First,

How does contemplating something truly ancient,

5,

000 years old,

Make you feel about your own life,

Your problems,

Your faith?

Does it bring you a sense of insignificance?

Or a sense of being connected to something vast and wonderful?

The early Celtic Christians often fulfilled rather than erased the sacred places they found.

Where in your own life might you need to see with these eyes,

Looking for the sincere spiritual hunger in a person or situation that looks very different from your own faith?

The stones invite us to embrace mystery.

What is one area of your faith or life where you could practice letting go of the need for a neat answer,

And simply rest in the state of holy wonder and trust before God?

Tomorrow,

Our journey through time continues as we visit the ruins of a more recent,

Yet still ancient,

Christian site.

We will reflect on what endures when structures fall,

The great cloud of witnesses,

And the legacy of faith passed down through generations.

And that brings our time to a close.

May you go in peace,

Held in the grace of the God who calls you out upon the waters.

I look forward to welcoming you back here again tomorrow.

In the meantime,

Rest in his presence.

Go with God and be blessed.