Tiree, Day One

Well, my travels with Wesley have led me from Fayetteville to London, then from London to Gainsborough, Gainsborough to Glasgow, and this morning, from Glasgow to the Isle of Tiree.  I will be here for 5 weeks doing pulpit supply for the Church of Scotland parish here on the island, and as they are without a minister, I am staying in the vacant manse.  Because this has been planned for several months, I had given the address to a couple of folks who requested it.  To my great joy, my talented and creative friend Elizabeth Worthington made me this lovely knitted John Wesley and mailed him here ahead of me, so imagine my delight when I opened the package this morning and saw him!  I posed him next to a map of this part of Tiree, thus creating the quintessential picture of "Travels With Wesley!"

Because I am here in a ministerial capacity and not simply as a tourist, the order of business today was to get some food and other supplies, unpack and get settled, and of course, to work on the worship service for Sunday.  It's always just that little bit awkward the first time or two you preach in a new place.  I don't know the rhythm they have developed, and of course, they don't know how I preach and lead worship, so we're definitely going to have to rely on the Spirit to see us through.  Because I'm a lectionary preacher, by and large, I had already been doing some groundwork long before I left home, but not knowing which hymnal they use was a bit of a problem at first.  Fortunately, there is a copy of it here at the manse, and I know you are shocked that of the five, we're only singing one Charles Wesley hymn ("Ye Servants of God") and a favorite by George Matheson ("O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go").

Since I'll be preaching on Luke 11: 1-13,  a lot of my thoughts today have centered on prayer.  Interestingly, some of John Wesley's comments are echoed in the words of Cynthia Bourgeault, a modern theologian and practitioner of contemplative/centering prayer.  She says that "prayer is not just about asking for help or repeating words over and over again.  It is also about being still, resting in God, listening, trusting, opening up, letting go.  Eventually, prayer begins to change you, ..., even to transform you."

Similarly, Wesley tells us that "Whether we think of; or speak to, God, whether we act or suffer for [God], all is prayer, when we have no other object than [God's] love, and the desire of pleasing [God].  In A Plain Account of Christian Perfection, he declares that everything a Christian does, even eating or sleeping, is prayer because "Prayer continues in the desire of the heart, though the understanding be employed on outward things.  In souls filled with love, the desire to please God is a continual prayer."

My heart's desire for this period of five weeks amongst the people of Tiree is that it be fruitful and a time of blessing for them and for me.  I don't know what shape that will take, but I trust that our desire to honor and worship God pleases God, and whether or not we are consciously praying, we are indeed seeking to be still in the presence of the Trinity, listening and opening up as the Spirit does some renovation work on our hearts.  May Christ be formed within us, and may we feel the richness of life rooted and grounded in him.