Neil Paynter - 50 Great Prayers from the Iona Community

SELECTED BY NEIL PAYNTER WILD GOOSE PUBLICATIONS www.ionabooks.com Prayers the individual contributors
Compilation 2009 Neil Paynter
First published 2009 by
Wild Goose Publications, Fourth Floor, Savoy House,
140 Sauchiehall Street,Glasgow G2 3DH, UK,
the publishing division of the Iona Community. Scottish Charity No. SC003794.
Limited Company Reg.No.SC096243. The publishers gratefully acknowledge the support of the Drummond Trust,
3 Pitt Terrace, Stirling FK8 2EY in producing this book. ePub:ISBN 978-1-905010-71-4
Mobipocket:ISBN 978-1-905010-72-1
PDF:ISBN 978-1-905010-73-8 All rights reserved.Apart from reasonable personal use on the purchaser's own system and related devices, no part of this document or file(s) may be reproduced or transmitted in any form,by any means,
without the prior written permission of the publisher. Non-commercial use:Thematerial in this bookmay be used non-commercially for worship and group work without written permission from the publisher.

Pleasemake full acknowledgement of the source, i.e. cite title and author of extract, title and author of book,publisher, address and date of publication.Where a large number of copies are made (e.g.over 100) a donationmay bemade to the Iona Community via Wild Goose Publications,but this is not obligatory. Neil Paynter has asserted his right in accordance with the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this compilation and the individual contributors have asserted their right to be identified as authors of their contributions. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. INTRODUCTION The first time I went to Iona Abbey I couldnt get in! Id just arrived on the island to volunteer with the Iona Community for four months. Id walked over to the Abbey from the MacLeod Centre to go to the evening service.

I wanted to see what it was like what Id got myself into. But I couldnt even get in the door. The wild Iona wind was blowing in such a way that the door was sealed shut. At first I thought it was locked: Typical of a church, I thought. I pulled and pulled, and yanked on the heavy door, but couldnt get in. It seemed like a sign.

A sign I wasnt welcome, that this church, too, wasnt for the likes of me. Oh well, I thought, and walked down to the North Beach. Clouds were roiling across the huge sky, the wind was spirited the whole landscape felt alive I went back the next day for the morning service, and entered the Abbey, and heard this great prayer, by Kate Mcllhagga: The shadow of the dove When dawns ribbon of glory around the world returns and the earth emerges from sleep The shadow of the dove is seen as she flies across moor and city. Over the warm breast of the earth she skims, her shadow falling on the watcher in the tower, the refugee in the ditch, the weary soldier at the gate. The shadow of peace falls across the all-night sitting of a council, across the tense negotiators around a table. The shadow of hope is cast across the bars of a hostage cell filling with momentary light rooms tense with conflict, bringing a brief respite, a sliver of gold across the dark.

She flies untiring across flooded fields, across a city divided by hate and fear, across a town wreathed in smoke. The shadow of reconciliation, the dove of peace with healing in her wings, is felt and seen and turned towards as she makes righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of her cause like the noonday sun. Holy Spirit of love,bring healing, bring peace. I couldnt believe I was hearing such beautiful, relevant, poetic words in a church. It really surprised me at the time. Words that addressed justice and peace issues in the world and that touched the heart and soul. It made me curious.

These words, and others like them, became a way in. Theres a line in a Dick Gaughan song about Pastor Jack Glass:I dont know if Jack believed in God, its kind of hard to tellHe never mentioned heaven much, he seemed obsessed by Hell. Thats how I felt about the Church, before I came to Iona. Whenever I went to church back home there was little, or nothing, in the services about the wonder and joy of life or just the basic mystery of being alive, under the great changing sky, on the good, rich earth. And little, or nothing, about justice and peace issues. Church felt lifeless, irrelevant and smug. God was judgemental, and so was his boring son, Jesus Christ; and when he wasnt being judgemental and life-denying, he was sappy sweet.

The language was archaic, and the rhythm, stiff and dreary. There was a dusty, fusty, sometimes sterile smell coming from something, a dead religion maybe, being covered up. Whats the point of going to church if you dont find nourishment? Who would give a stone to a child who asks for bread? You might as well go find God, Christ and the Holy Spirit down on the North Beach. I was so hungry for mystery, wonder, community, challenge Life when I came to Iona. I was so hungry for food that would strengthen and inspire me to reach out and love. And thats what I found in the community and worship there: Bread for body, mind and soul.

Life in all its fullness. (John 10:10) Not that there wasnt space for confession in the liturgy; thats essential. But you felt that sin wasnt something lodged inside you, like a bad seed; like something you were born with. Or like a pocketful of stones you hobbled through your one precious life with. Sin was more about not recognising and confessing your complicity in the injustices of the world not acting to help feed the hungry, clothe the freezing, free the imprisoned and oppressed. In the Iona Communitys daily Act of Prayer, we say together: With the whole churchWE AFFIRMTHAT WE ARE MADE IN GODS IMAGE,BEFRIENDED BY CHRIST, EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT.With people everywhereWE AFFIRMGODS GOODNESS AT THE HEART OF HUMANITY,PLANTED MORE DEEPLY THAN ALL THAT IS WRONG.With all creationWE CELEBRATETHE MIRACLE AND WONDER OF LIFE;THE UNFOLDING PURPOSES OF GOD,FOREVER AT WORK IN OURSELVES AND THE WORLD. When I first came to Iona, I viewed the Church the way popular culture and the media still views it sin-obsessed, judgemental, life-denying, anti-nature, anti-women, anti-gay I dont know how to spread the gospel of Iona, other than by trying my best to live it, and through books like this one.

It was very hard to choose only 50 prayers from the Iona Community. This anthology (like all anthologies) is subjective, I admit, although I hope Ive chosen some prayers that anyone editing a collection like this would have included. Its interesting, but not surprising, that the majority of these prayers were written by women more evidence that the Church would have much more heart, guts and spirit would be more fully Christs body if it was less male. Well, that change in the shape of the Church is slowly happening. Isnt it? Some voices here are male, like George MacLeods. I thought of just including passages from Georges prayers, but the whole prayers are so rooted and soaring and glorious I couldnt do it; maybe didnt dare.

To me, George MacLeods prayers are of a time and will always transcend time: In You all things consist and hang together:The very atom is light energy,
the grass is vibrant,
the rocks pulsate.All is in flux; turn but a stone and an angel moves