We're back--Last Night--saying farewell to Scotland

Till We Meet Again
May the road rise to meet you;
may the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face
and teh rain fall softly on your fields.
Until we meet again
may God hold you
in the hollow of his hand.

Since Liz and had a five hour layover at London Heathrow we decided to take the 15 minute express train into Paddington (NW London) and then take a double decker tour bus around London. It's the way to go, though we did have to hustle to catch our connection to ORD-DEN. But it was worth it.

Friday evening, after a full day at Iona we came back to Dunblane's Scottish Churches' House for dinner and a kaylee--a farewell party that was part talent show, folk dance, concert and all around good time--closing with the Scottish song, composed by Robert Burns--Auld Lang Syne. We've really created a wonderful community with the 32 folks who have been part of the Celtic Trail. We experienced the hospitality of our hosts and not one of us will forget the times we've had and the things we saw. It was especially good to travel with old friends--John and Nancy, Johnny, Don and Mel, Sam and Nancy, Jeff and Debbie Hetschel, Glen and Cathy Barth and then...as a part of a true pilgrimage to walk alongside new friends--each with stories of God's hand and God's grace in their lives.

A special thanks to Judi Melton, Robert Calvert, Jack Drennan, and Jock Stein for putting together such a great week. Thank you dear friends.

"Would it not be the beautiful thing now, if you were just coming instead of going?"

Irish blessing

This class was sponsored by Bakke Graduate University and is part of their "Pilgrim Trail" experiences. Although I have highlighted some of the sight seeing, for the students, the class consists of 3000 pages of reading before arriving, a daily reflection paper followed by a 30 page "application to my ministry paper." But the idea is built around reflective and experiential learning. Last year the "trail" experience was "From Trent to Rome" and next year's trip will be from Constantinople to Romania.