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Location: Iona Abbey and the island of Iona, inner Hebrides, Scotland
Sacramental Focus: Confirmation
Key Themes
Iona’s history, religious heritage, Columba and pilgrimage
The idea of “thin places” where the sacred feels close
Longing, belonging, and the search for community
Autism, masking and identity
Landscape, liminality, edges, and the significance of place
Choosing faith and belonging on one’s own terms
Guest Voice(s): Revd Dr. Urzula Glienecke, Iona Community member and former programme coordinator and deputy director for Iona Abbey and the MacLeod Centre
Music: ‘Etherealistic 2’, ‘In-Between Places’ and ‘Curach’ – Composed and performed by Jude Mills. Listen to the full pieces at https://soundcloud.com/sacramentsofunbelonging
Links & Resources
Iona https://www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/iona
Corncrakes https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/corncrake
The Iona Community
Iona Abbey https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit/all/iona-abbey-and-nunnery
St. Columba (Colmcille) https://blog.historicenvironment.scot/2021/03/the-legacy-of-st-columba
Documentary about Columba (Mostly in Gaelic with subtitles) Calum Cille: An Naomh Dana / Columba: The Bold Saint (BBC)
Features Gilbert Markus who will feature in a later episode of this very podcast!
Geology of Iona and Mull https://visitmullandiona.co.uk/guides/geology
https://www.scottishgeologytrust.org/geology/51-best-places/isle-of-iona/
George MacLeod https://www.ionabooks.com/product/george-macleod
Although it didn’t make it into the podcast, Urzula was keen for me to include more of what she said about George MacLeod and his use of ‘cigarette paper’ (now referred to as ‘tissue paper’)
“ I really like one thing about George McLeod who started the Iona Community. He said that it is a thin place, thin as a cigarette paper. They have changed that now to tissue paper, but what he actually said was cigarette paper. He worked in Govan in Glasgow, where a lot of people were really struggling on their lives: unemployed builders; unemployed shipbuilders. And those were the people he brought together with students of theology who were to become ministers in the future. And so that they could really listen to each other, could understand each other. And the image of cigarette paper, that just so much fits.” Urzula Glienecke
Autism and masking https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/behaviour/masking
Episode Two- ‘The Thin Place’
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