Kenneth McIntosh - Water From an Ancient Well: Celtic Spirituality for Modern Life

Water from an Ancient Well

Celtic Spirituality for Modern Life

Kenneth McIntosh

Water from an Ancient Well

Copyright 2011 by Anamchara Books, a Division of Harding House Publishing Service, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

Anamchara Books

220 Front Street

Vestal, NY 13850

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ISBN: 978-1-933630-98-4

ebook ISBN: 978-1-933630-99-1

Library of Congress Control Number 2011907336

Author: Kenneth McIntosh

Cover design by Russell Richardson.

Interior design by Camden Flath.

Printed in the United States of America.

Unless otherwise noted, all scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. First published in Great Britain 1979. Inclusive language version 1995, 1996. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton, a member of the Hodder Headline Group. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations labeled kjv are from the King James Version of the Bible. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked nlt are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.

Introduction

Reading This Book

Like a Celtic knot, this book is meant to be enjoyed in a nonlinear fashion: you dont need to read the whole volume in sequential order, since each chapter is an independent essay. Feel free to glance at the table of contents and then begin wherever you wish.

These chapters contain three aspects; the medium is the message, for three was the sacred number of the ancient Celts. First, true to the Celtic love of tales, each chapter has stories; some of these are contemporary, others ancient. Second, each chapter contains an examination of theology and history; the ancient scholar-saints would surely approve. And third, each chapter offers modern applications drawn from the theology and thinking of the past.

This book is not meant to present doctrine or a systematic theology. It does not claim to be the right way to approach Christianity. And it certainly does not set itself up as an argument against more traditional forms of Christianity. None of that would be in the spirit of Celtic Christianity.

The Celtic Christians were a theologically diverse group: when any two had a conversation, they could argue three different points of view! Many Gaelic churches affirmed womens equality, for instance, but some island monasteries forbade women from even stepping ashore. Some Celtic theologians warned of damnation for anyone outside the church, while others believed all humankind would be saved.

And yet for the most part, the Christian Celts tended to look at the world from a both-and perspective rather than an either-or one. They did not see their pagan ancestors beliefs as a threat to their newer ones; instead, one complimented and illuminated the other. They believed Gods light shone in all humans, and as a result, they were able to live comfortably side by side with people of varying beliefs.

Building on the ancient Celts example of tolerance and open-mindedness, I have intentionally tried not to take a stand when it comes to choosing whether ancient theology and practices are better than modern ones. Undoubtedly, my personal preferences will show through in places, since my own story is part of this book, but I have done my best merely to examine the history that helps us understand how modern Christianity got where it is today from where it once was in the days and land of the ancient Celtsand to suggest that those older ways, while not perfect, still have something to offer us in the twenty-first century.

May the Divine Spirit allow you to find living water within these pages.

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet Earth to you.
Deep peace of the sleeping stones to you.
Deep peace of the stars to you.
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you.

Seeking Ancient Wells

The Celts and Their World

Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink!
Jesus

This is what the Lord says:
Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,
ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls.
Jeremiah 6:16

I like to begin a new writing project with an appropriate ceremony, so this morning I took down from my office shelf a small plastic container filled with water labeled St. Nons. The Earth is rich with water, some 326 million trillion gallons of it, but the liquid in this vial is special: I poured it from a Welsh sacred well, toted it in my backpack for weeks, and then checked it onto a flight to America. Now, I pour that water into a champagne flute and take a swallow. Ahh...

It tastes wonderful. But the natural qualities of a drink of water arent what make me savor this liquid so much. Each drop is infused with legend.

The tale begins bitterly when a Welsh chieftain violated a young woman named Non. She struggled through the pregnancy that resulted, but when her son David was born, a spring burst miraculously from the ground. The waters met her practical needs, but drinking from the well also healed the young womans broken spirit.

Since that year, 520 ce , pilgrims to St. Nons Well have claimed that its waters heal diseases of the eyes and bones. Even more miraculous, the wells water is said to also mend souls. Every sip from that sacred spring is a reminder that God cared for a wounded young womanand that God will certainly provide for us as well.

We all need Gods touch. As Saint Augustine put it, Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until they rest in you. In fact, we need God as desperately as our bodies need water. Often, of course, we forget our need. We fill our hours with work, meetings, entertainment, shopping, and endless trivial pursuits... and, in the midst of it all, we often have the nagging sensation that something is missing. We want peace deeper than the absence of strife, rest more than a good nights sleep, and love so tender that no mere mortal can provide it.

A Hebrew poet wrote three thousand years ago, As the deer pants for the water, so my soul pants for you (Psalm 42:1). And the Sufi poet Rumi described his aching for God as being like that of a reed plucked from the water:

Since I was cut from the reed bed,
I have made this crying sound.
Anyone apart from someone he loves
understands what I say.
Anyone pulled from a source
longs to go back.

C.S. Lewis (a modern Celtic Christian, born in Ireland) uses the image of water to describe humanitys relationship with God: If you want to be wet you must get into the water. If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them.... They are a great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very center of reality. If you are close to it, the spray will wet you: if you are not, you will remain dry.