life on iona

Well, I’m now into my second week on the island and things seem to be going pretty well (apart from missing family and friends, of course!).

There is a lovely quiet rhythm that life with the Iona Community provides. Each day is punctuated with a brief morning and evening liturgies (generally at 9am and 9pm) in the Abbey. There’s no rule that people need to attend these, but I’ve found that they act as very good “bookends” to each day’s routine. The volunteers have lunchtime and evening meals with the guests (ie. those attending one of the courses with the Community). All volunteers work five-and-a-half days per week – so life is pretty “full on”. Having said that, all my work and house-share colleagues are lovely and this obviously makes things a lot easier.
As you are probably aware (if you’re on facebook), I’ve been taking LOADS of photographs since I arrived – taking advantage of the beautiful weather in my early days on the island! No doubt, these will progressively reduce in quantity over the course of my stay – but apologies for the abundance, nevertheless!
Iona is a very special place and the Iona Community is a very special “organisation” – with lots of simply lovely special people.
Photo: North End (on a sunny day - it rained ALL day today!).