Within the spirituality of the peoples of Celtic lands there is an eternal truth that can inform us in the twenty-first century. The people of those lands had an earthy spirituality that connected them with the environment in which they lived.
Alexander Carmichael discovered this as he translated the prayer life of ordinary folk living in the islands along the coast of Scotland, between 1860 and his death. Carmichael collected all these into his book , The Song of the Gael (1900}. As we peruse these songs, poems and prayers in English we are still able to get the spirituality of these readings. It is clear that these people did not see their faith as something added on, but as an integral part of their very life. From the rising of the sun, the setting of the fire, the milking of the cow, everything was done with prayer in response to the divine in all things and places.
I believe we find in this kind of spirituality what we desire as people living in the twenty- first century. I believe we find in this spirituality what folk on the west coast of BC are looking for in the life of faith.
Many people are responding negatively to the institutional church. They have given up hope on organized religion with their perception of its failings. They are looking for something void of hierarchy and clerical abuse. They are looking for something they can call their own. Folk are looking for a spirituality that will shape their lifestyles and give to them a moral code to live within.
The genesis for this among folk in the Celtic lands was their belief in the divine presence in all things. In their understanding there was no difference between secular and spiritual for all things; all people and all experiences are divine.
Here are some suggestions to begin living in relationship to this spirituality:
(1)Accept that there is a divine presence in all things - people, the environment, animate and inanimate objects. All of life involves this divine presence and all of life is held together by this presence.
(2)Look for this presence in all of creation, firstly in the beauty and form of all creatures, for in these eyes we see the spark of that first light of creation. We also experience the divinity in the mountains, rivers, lakes and oceans.
(3)Have a conversation with this divinity; ask for a blessing on others, on talks, time, space, work, leisure, journeys, silence, conversation, and experience that divinity in all of them.
(4)Begin to be attentive to that divine presence in all of these places. Listen, not only for voice, but also for feelings of that presence in space, time, people and events.
(5)Learn to respond to these promptings and allow them to become a part of you, letting the experience shape and form your conversation and your presence.
On the rugged, dramatic west coast of Scotland, a spirituality grew up among the peoples that melded together an ancient belief system with a new one that came from the desert of the Mediterranean. We see just a glimpse of this in the collections of the Carmina Gadelica. We who live on the edge of the world here in British Columbia can discover in these ancient songs, prayers and incantations words to shape for us our spirituality and speak to our own place and time.
The Right Reverend Logan McMenamie is the Anglican Bishop of the Diocese of British Columbia.
You can read more articles on our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking
