Tuesday afternoon: Columba: The Scriptures and Creativity
‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’
(2Timothy 3: 16–18)
- From the Lindisfarne Gospels
‘Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in the mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.’
(James 1: 22–25)
Notice the words; ‘looks intently’ and ‘continues to do this’; we’ll come back to both passages later.
Michael Mitton in his book ‘Restoring the Woven Cord’ writes:
‘The Celtic Church cherished a deep love for the Bible, and from the Epistles of St Paul developed their theology. The Psalms were used in worship, and were the inspiration of poets and preachers. Without the influences of the views of the church fathers, the Celtic theologians set about discovering what the Scriptures meant. Unlike the theologians of Roman Christianity who appealed more and more to the teachings of Church and councils, Celtic teachers stressed the Bible. The role of the Scriptures in Celtic Christianity was indeed a vital one, so much so that no thorough study of the beliefs and practices of the Christians of the Celtic lands is possible without bearing this fact in mind.’
(Restoring the Woven Cord by Michael Mitton, page 29)
So, in order to reflect on the place of the Scriptures in the Celtic Church I want to tell you about one of the great Celtic saints, namely:
Columba
Columba was born in Ireland in 512, just over 100 years after Patrick’s death. In a dream, shortly before his birth, Columba’s mother was given a word from God:
‘You will have a son and his light and influence shall be carried far, far beyond the hills you can see or the world you hear of. He will belong to God and will bring many souls into God’s kingdom.’
(Adamnan; The Life of Columba, page 10)
Columba was born of royal lineage and, after being converted to Christ at a young age, he entered a monastery. At the age of 19 he started his own monastery at Derry. One of his mentors, Finian, had studied under Ninian at Candida Casa. Columba, a gifted leader, was a man of great learning and zeal. Without permission he began himself copying, for his monastery, a manuscript of the Psalms he had borrowed from Finian. When he was discovered, Finian demanded that Columba return both the manuscript and the copy. Columba refused and Finian appealed to the High King of Tara, who responded as follows:
‘To every cow its calf and to every book its copy.’
Columba furious that the King, a relative, had ruled against him gathered his clansmen and went to war against the King. Though he won the battle he was exiled by the Church. He then sought council from a hermit who told him that he would have to win as many souls for Christ as had been killed in the battle he initiated. With 12 disciples Columba set sail from his beloved Ireland, landed on a number of islands, but kept sailing until he could no longer see his homeland. He and his disciples finally settled on the Island of Iona where he established a monastery which became a centre of worship, prayer, ministry and training for both men and women for evangelism into Scotland and Britain.
Historian Bede writes;
‘His followers were distinguished for their purity of life, their love of God and their loyalty to the monastic rule’
Many stories are told of Columba’s great gifts of leadership, preaching and of the miracles wrought through him. He was a man of great faith and a prayer warrior. Through his leadership and ministry the monastery at Iona became a great centre of worship, evangelism and learning.
Bede writes:
‘Columba converted the Picts to the faith of Christ by his preaching and example’.
At the age of 77, as the end of his life drew near, Columba was still copying texts, the last being, Psalm 34: 10:
‘The lions may grow weak and hungry but those who seek the Lord, lack no good thing.’
At midnight Columba went to the monastery chapel, blessed the monks and died. (In 1938, through the inspiration, vision and perseverance of George Mcleod, the monastery was rebuilt and is the ‘home’ of the dispersed Iona Community and a special place of pilgrimage)
The Celtic Church’s Love for the Scriptures and Creativity.
I now want to link the life and ministry of Columba to illustrate the Celtic Church’s love for the scriptures. After all it was Columba’s love for the scriptures that precipitated the ‘war’ that led to his banishment from Ireland.
The Celtic Church treasured the Scriptures as that which informed and directed their lives. Remember that the Celts were great storytellers and poets and memorised the stories and poems handed down from one generation to the next. They learned the Psalms by heart and recited them in corporate worship and as they journeyed on foot. We are told that the young Chad as a monk on Holy Island asked when he could accompany the teams on evangelistic missions and was told ‘When you can fly like an eagle’ (This meant knowing the Gospel of John off by heart).
John’s Gospel was a favourite with the Celtic Church. From Revelation 4: 6 the eagle is the symbol of John’s Gospel. The eagle has a sharp clear eye and clear vision; the Gospel of John, the mystical Gospel, requires a clear eye and perceptive vision to see into the heart of God.
In the 7th Century, Boisil the Abbot of Melrose, dying of the plague, invited the young Cuthbert to read to him from John’s Gospel.
‘However, as was common in those days, there came a time when the monastery was attacked by the plague which was ravaging the length and breadth of the country. Both Cuthbert and Boisil were afflicted, but whilst Cuthbert was healed, Boisil was given the knowledge that he would die and that he had only a week to live. Boisil decided to spend the last week of his life studying the Bible. Boisil chose St John’s Gospel, and so for seven days the ailing Boisil and the recovered Cuthbert spent time immersed in this much loved Gospel. Bede tells us that they “dealt not with profound arguments but with the simple things of the faith which worketh by love”. And as they read it, so Boisil received prophetic insight into Cuthbert’s life and “unfolded all Cuthbert’s future during that week”, even to the extent of telling Cuthbert that he would become a bishop, news that Cuthbert was very reluctant to receive. After a week Boisil died, no doubt with his mind and heart filled with St John’s accounts of the resurrection of Jesus.’
‘By far the most influential book in the development of the Celtic Church was the Bible. It moulded their theology and guided the worship of the early Christians. It suggested rules of conduct and transformed the ancient laws of Irish and Welsh pagans into Christian statutes. It lay at the foundation of the education of children and youth, and sparked the genius of poets and song writers. It provided inspiration for the scribes of history and hagiography and affected the language of the common people, becoming the dynamic for the production of the most beautiful hand written books ever made.’
(Restoring the Woven Cord by Michael Mitton, page 25)
The account of Cuthbert reading John’s Gospel to Boisil speaks of a way of reading Scripture in which the reader is open, receptive and responsive to being addressed by God to guide, challenge, convict and inform. Lectio Divina or Eucharistic reading of Scripture in which the Word becomes our food, is an ancient method which comes to us through the centuries from the Desert Fathers. We listen to how God is addressing us in a particular text of Scripture through:
Reading in the presence of God;
Reflecting in the sense of ‘ruminating’;
Responding with spontaneous prayer;
Resting in God.
Thomas Keating writes:
‘The dynamic interaction between those four ‘moments’ of Lectio – reading; reflecting, (in the sense of ruminating on a particular sentence or phrase); responding in prayer; and resting in God – puts us more and more at the disposal of the Holy Spirit.’
(Awakenings by Thomas Keating, page V111 – X11)
You will find more and more Christian writers today pointing us back to Lectio Divina which was the Celts way of reading Scripture, inherited from the Desert Fathers and ‘lost’ for many centuries. We are rediscovering the gift of contemplation which was at the heart of Celtic spirituality and in the words of Richard Rohr:
‘What we are enjoying now …..is a renaissance of the contemplative mind, the only truly alternative that religion has to offer the world’.
(The Naked Now by Richard Rohr, page 114)
Emphasising the ‘power’ of God’s Word, N.T. Wright writes:
‘…. you hold in your hands not only the most famous book in the world, but one which has extraordinary power to change lives, to change communities, to change the world. It’s done it before, it can do it again.’
‘…. to be a Christian while not letting the Bible do all the things it’s capable of, through you and in you, is like trying to play the piano with your fingers tied together.’
In his comments on 2 Timothy 3: 16–17:
‘Equipped for every good work’
‘…. there’s the point. The Bible is breathed out by God (the word inspired literally means God breathed’ so that it can fashion and form God’s people to do his work in the world.’
(Simply Christian by NT Wright, pages 173, 174 & 182)
Examples from my own life:
‘Putting your hand to the plough’ Luke 9: 62
‘Episcopacy’ John 21: 15-21
‘Book with the red mouth’
Mcebisi and taxi wars.
Pope Gregory’s letter Praying the Bible by Mariano Magrassi
Introduction to Lectio Divina (Pg 126)
The Celts great love for the Scriptures, linked to their creativity and artistic nature is reflected in the magnificent illuminated copies of the gospels which they produced, particularly:
The Book of Kells
- From the Book of Kells
The Lindisfarne Gospels
‘If you take the trouble to look very closely, and penetrate with your eyes to the secrets of the artistry, you will notice such intricacies, so delicate and subtle, so close together and well knitted, so involved and bound together, and so fresh still in their colourings that you will not hesitate to declare that all these things must have been the work, not of men but of angels.’
Elsewhere Bernard Meehan writes of the Book of Kells;
‘The Book of Kells is the most precious object in the Western world.’
(The Book of Kells by Bernard Meehan, page 198)
Much more than works of art the illuminated Gospels speak of the Celts relationship to God, his Word and to creation.
‘The Lindisfarne Gospels …. its celebration is linked inseparably with its Christ mysticism. As St Paul says: ‘In Christ all things hold together.’ Likewise, Celtic artists repeatedly choose to weave together themes of creation with themes of redemption. Both are regarded as flowing forth from the mystery of God. The gift of grace is given not in opposition to the gift of nature but to restore to life again the goodness planted by God in the heart of nature.’
‘It is this combination in the artwork of the Lindisfarne Gospels that is forever inviting us to look for layers of meaning, not only in the illuminated pages of the Gospel text but in ourselves and in the whole of creation. Its imagery and forms are not realistic interpretations of outward daily life, rather they are suggestive and almost dreamlike visions of the eternal. The invitation is to look at the wonder of life, not only with our physical sight but, as the Celtic tradition says, with the eye of the heart.’
(Celtic Benediction by J Philip Newell)
Encourage creativity
Celebrate creativity
Banners / Artwork
Dance / Drama
Poetry
- Banners crafted during a Celtic Week
