Hi Novantae:

What's the connection? I see a profound connection right away!

Ezekiel's wheels of fire, and wheels within wheels, was a vision of cosmic creation, and of the cyclical nature of the universe, which is symbolized by the circle. Celtic Christianity, which I consider to be closer to the original movement around Jesus than Roman Christianity, simply took the circle of their ancient Sun God—whose island you are visiting—and put it on the Christian cross, thereby creating the Celtic Christian Cross.

Iona Abbey is becoming a global center for the revival of the Celtic Christianity that was taught by St. Colombo, St. Ninian, Pelagius, and others. The Presbyterian roots of the United Church go back all the way to St. Ninian and Celtic Christianity. I envy you (in a positive way) for spending Easter at Iona Abbey! I have the Iona Abbey worship book, and use it extensively.

And what does all that have to do with Israel? Well, Israel, the Celtic lands and Iona Abbey are far more of a home to the spirit of the original movement around Jesus than Rome and continental Europe!

Interesting that you should have studied archeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Do you know Professor Itzak Hirschfeld? One of his archeological teams unearthed a seal with a picture of Jesus that is thought to be oldest depiction of Jesus found so far. I'll try to post it here.

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Unfortunately, I didn't succeed in posting it, but I can e-mail it to you, if you are interested and give me your e-mail address by wondermail.

Have a revelatory Easter at Iona Abbey!

Arminius

Hi Arminius:

I have a great uncle named Arminius. What a lovely name.

Yes, the connection is clear, but it wouldn't make for very interesting reading would it? I have studied Gaelic and Celtic Christianity for a semester at a local university and found it very interestesting. I helped celebrate St. Bridet's day in one of the local United Churches in rural Ontario. It was a lot of fun.

Interestingly enough, there are also linguistic connections between Hebrew and Gaelic. For instance, in Gaelic you would say "shmesha" for my name is and in Hebrew it is Smi (phonetically spelled) for my name is.

I do not know this professor of which you speak. I studied with Amihai Mazor and since all of the course was in the field, I was not exposed to a regular classroom or to other professors. My section was in the Early to Middle Bronze Age and our tel was mostly Canaanite in origin. I chose that area because of safety issues, rather than what we would be digging up.

On another note, my Scottish ancestors were MacDonaldites, a form of Presbyterian and when they immigrated to Canada, they became Presbyterians. Later, on the birth of the United Church, they all joined, and I am a proud owner of the first 'rally' bulletin for the United Church in Toronto. Very exciting!

I am sure that my adventures in Iona will be fun. I have a friend who is visiting the Abby three weeks after I am and I am setting up a scavenger hunt for her. The premise is to leave a little trail of things, probably Canadian coins or something else small and then lead her to something a little bigger. I will email her the instructions and she'll have a little adventure of her own when she gets there. I'll have to scope out the area first, since Iona isn't that big and probably doesn't have a lot of natural formations suitable for hiding things.

Thanks for your reply!

Novantae,

Near Eastern Archaeology!  Fascinating.  I was more Classics/Celtic (with a bit of North American Prehistory), so I've always been full of respect for people who get into the Mesopotamian area.  I did my own dig in Spain, in a very small village that has a Pre-Roman necropolis site.  No apiaries, though - that would have blown my mind.

You are so right about Scotland.  You said that "it quenches a thirst. A thirst that cannot be described".  I know exactly what you mean.  My ancestral roots are from Scotland as well, and since I was little I always wanted to go.  I never understood why; I just knew I had to visit.  My third year of Uni, I took in Glasgow.  Like you, I was expecting some kind of revelation.  Instead, I found my true love - and he's from Spain.

God IS everywhere, and sometimes we just have to follow Him without knowing why.  Things get clearer along the way.

Enjoy Iona!  I never made it that far up, but I studied and wrote a fair amount about St. Columba and early Scotland, so I am pretty jealous!  Enjoy the peaceful, reflective silence for us.  And kiss the mist for me.

Wonderful! How delightful! I am getting excited, though it is rather difficult looking out the window and seeing the snow. Yet, I know that it will be wonderful. It is sometimes so important to get reconnected with where your people come from!

Do you have any recommendations for Glasgow? I'll be there for a few days as well.

Oh, I have many recommendations for Glasgow!!  I warn you, I avoided most of the 'touristy' stuff and lived like a native (minus the binge drinking), but I highly recommend:

1. The Ben Nevis.  Live music on Wed. and Sun., I think.  It's on Argyle in the West End.

2.  Willow Tea Rooms.  There's two of them, and they're both lovely - designed by famous Art Nouveau/Deco artist Remmie Mackintosh.

3.  The Bean Scene, a great place for lunch (and writing essays, for me) just off Ashton Lane, again in the West End and near the Uni.  Jinty McGuinty's is a great pub around there too, and the Grosvenor Cinema is the best movie theatre I've ever been in.  Plus you can take beer to your seat.

4.  I believe Kelvinhaugh Museum is open now.  It was under repair when I was there, but one of my classes got to study some of its Classical pottery.

sounds good, great, grand! thanks Faerenach! i leave in one week! 

Have a brilliant time!  Drink a pint of McEwans for me!