Kingdom clues and landing lights
Throughout our time in Canada, Scotland was never far from our thoughts. The dream of establishing an abbey-like church planting church in the highlands, patterned after the centres of prayer like Iona or Lindisfarne, gripped our imaginations. I would pour over ordinance survey maps of Caledonia that came with us in our suitcases. Once, with these said maps open on my study floor, as my eyes combed over contour lines remembering Munros that I had climbed in my late teens, I heard a little riddle in prayer.
“You will know you have found the right place because there will be the signs of early Christian worship on the site.”
God, who knows the end from the beginning and holds past, present and future simultaneously in the hollow of his sovereign hand, asks us to trust him. In that trust, as a loving father plays the game of Warmer Colder with wide-eyed, treasure hungry children, he offers clues along the way. “Seek and you will find.”
Finding such early Christian worship proved tricky. Rightmove doesn’t have that kind of tick box in its search criteria. Must have: at least five bedrooms, some land, and signs that Jesus was worshipped somewhere on the grounds when Cuthbert was a lad! As if providence was disturbing our root ball in Canadian soil, one such house appeared online at the beginning of 2020. On this property were the remains of a small chapel planted by St Blane. Despite this clue lining up, the main home needed a lot of TLC (a new roof and stripped back to the studs kind of TLC). I entered the old, roofless chapel, lifting a prayer for guidance. It was a beautiful view, but in the cold February winds I sensed the enormity of the restoration work required in the main house and the practical needs that exceeded well beyond my DIY skill level. Incredibly though, friends who wanted to support our vision formed an investor group and offered a significant contribution to help us make a bid. Between offering all that Charlotte and I had, together with this very generous investment, we discerned it right to go all in and made an offer. Three days later, 4 am back on Lethbridge time, the news came from our lawyer we weren’t successful. Back to the drawing board.
This time was different. There were new lessons to learn from this iteration. When we were contemplating making the offer, Morag, a treasured friend, gave us a kind warning that we were being too naive about the scope of the restoration work (warmer!) I still wanted to plough on regardless (colder, colder!). Why was this? In prayer I discerned my inner orphan was anxious that another property with early Christian signs might never emerge and so was over zealous to pounce on this one because of an inner feeling of lack rather than trusting in the promise of God. Similarly, Charlotte discerned that we are called to an embodied spirituality of body, soul and spirit. This property brought with it a temptation to overextend ourselves, beyond what was being asked of us. Charlotte felt it was his mercy that closed the door to this property. Following this, she felt an invitation to trust that he had something better suited.
Our bishop and friend, Todd Atkinson, journeyed with us to Scotland on this reconnaissance trip and shared helpfully that, given the scope of such a move between countries, it was not wrong to ask for more confirming signs. Just as a plane coming into land needs more than a few lights to illuminate the runway, we too need lots of “landing lights,” and they all need to line up to guide us in this move. Therefore, we asked for more light, still looking for early Christian worship clues. In the weeks that followed, our sense of drivenness further diminished, and we allowed ourselves to be drawn into where ever the Lord was calling us. Despite being in the midst of a global pandemic we knew we were moving home to Scotland later in the year. Something interesting developed in the hearts of those in our investor group too. They continued to send us other potential properties. Then came an email from them with a link to a property called Greenwood and the simple question, “What about this place?”
Greenwood is located on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula, at a point called Ardslignish. There is a family home and three fully furnished holiday cottages situated in seventy acres of forest, hillside, and shorefront. It was out of our price range by a country mile. Speaking of country, it is very remote. It’s a life on the B-roads, literally! The B8007, to be exact. Charlotte did a Google search “early Christian worship, Ardnamurchan.” Ardslignish came up! The story is best told by St Columba’s biographer St Adomnan:
“Once during the saint’s life of pilgrimage he was on a journey when a child was brought to him for baptism by his parents. But there was no water to be found in that spot. So the saint turned aside to the nearest rock, where he knelt and prayed a little while. When he stood up, he blessed the face of the rock, and at once water bubbled out from it in great quantity. Thereupon he baptised the child making this prophecy concerning him.
“This little boy will live a long life, into extreme old age. In his youth he will be more or less a slave of the desires of his flesh, but afterwards he will devote himself as a soldier of Christ to the end of his days, and in old age will depart to the Lord.”
All this happened to the man as the saint foretold. His name was Ligu Cenncalad. The place where his parents where was in Ardnamurchan, and a little spring is still to be seen there which is powerful in the name of St Columba. (Life of St Columba, P161-2).
Columba’s well is situated within Greenwood’s bounds. It still flows in a humble and nondescript fashion next to the single track road. When we spoke to the investor group and shared the story of the well there were more encouraging signs. “This feels like the place.” said one of them, “I can sense the Holy Spirit. This morning, in my Bible readings, I was with Moses at Meribah and the water that came from the rock. (Exodus 17). This is the Lord. Let’s make this happen!” Charlotte and I were overjoyed.
In the days that followed, we received further insights after wise advice from my spiritual director. He encouraged us to take a month to “try on” either side of the choice. “One week, you imagine you have decided to move into Greenwood. How does that feel? What do you sense God showing you? The following week you imagine letting this property go. How does that feel? Where is God in that decision?” The month of July brought lots of further landing lights, too many to recount here. We had hoped that the property would remain on the market until our return to Scotland later in the autumn, but an offer was made on one of the holiday cottages. This other offer spurred us into action. Even though we were still in Canada, and my dad and sister viewed Greenwood in our stead, we made an offer thanks to the incredible support of the investor group. It was accepted!
We have called Greenwood Retreat home for nearly a year now. The Ardnamurchan Peninsula is a wild and beautiful place. The B road that takes you West from Salen is one of the windiest I’ve ever driven. Ancient oaks, birches and scots pines line the route as the road flirts with the shoreline of Loch Sunart. Greenwood Retreat is the setting where a long-cherished dream will come to life, as the Lord wills. At its beating heart will be a ministry called “The Way of the Beloved.”
In further research about St Columba, I learned that he was 41 years old when he left Ireland to establish his work on Iona. I turned 41 before we moved into Greenwood, a further encouraging smiling nod from providence. We are not nostalgically remembering the era of Celtic saints through rose-tinted spectacles, wishing we were back there again; we do not see ourselves as museum keepers of previous miracle sites. Like all signs, these “signs of early Christian worship” point us to something beyond themselves. They point to the character and nature of God, who does not change. The God of the Bible is a real God, with a real love for real people in their real needs. Our calling to Greenwood Retreat is simply to experience this reality ourselves and help others know and enjoy it too. We long that here on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula and all across Scotland, the Lord would pour out his Holy Spirit like water on dry and thirsty land. We want to imitate Columba, together with all the saints, as they sought to imitate Christ (1 Cor 4) in apostolic practice and power. We long to see a life of miracles, prophecy and heavenly encounters alive and well in disciples of Christ across the highlands and beyond so that people’s faith would rest not on human wisdom but in the power of God. Lord, let it be for your great glory!