Joyful Reflection

Wednesday July 16, 2025 was my turn to lead an evening service in the Abbey. I had been preparing for weeks. I carefully picked the readings. And I chose people to read who could do it with expression and really bring the texts alive. I had a meeting with Sally the music volunteer. She helped me find a song to match the mood. I had another song in mind and she gave me a great suggestion of how to integrate it and make it even more powerful. I’d chosen the song because I love the power of its mighty chords as well as the words. Sally also created a drumming circle for the time when people were invited to come up and take a flag of their own home. The whole service was a lovely package of joy and delight, just as I envisioned. It was so fulfilling to offer this gift to the community.

It will make for a longer post but I am going to put in the readings I chose. So you can read those before my reflection. It’ll give you a flavor of what the service was like beyond the words I shared.

The first reading is Psalm 16

Keep me safe, my God,
    for in you I take refuge.

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
    apart from you I have no good thing.”
I say of the holy people who are in the land,
    “They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight.”
Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
    I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
    or take up their names on my lips.

Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
    you make my lot secure.
The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    surely I have a delightful inheritance.
I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
    With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest secure,
because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
    nor will you let your faithful[b] one see decay.
You make known to me the path of life;
    you will fill me with joy in your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

The second reading is a poem by American poet Brian Doyle

The Best Poem Ever

What if, says a small child to me this afternoon,
We made a poem without using any words at all?
Wouldn’t that be cool? You could use long twigs,
And feathers, or spider strands, and arrange them
So that people imagine what words could be there.
Wouldn’t that be cool? So there’s a different poem
For each reader. That would be the best poem ever.
The poem wouldn’t be on the page, right? It would
Be in the air, sort of. It would be between the twigs
And the person’s eyes, or behind the person’s eyes,
After the person saw whatever poem he or she saw.
Maybe there are a lot of poems that you can’t write
Down. Couldn’t that be? But they’re still there even
If no one can write them down, right? Poems in
Books are only a little bit of all the poems there are.
Those are only the poems someone found words for.

Lisa’s Reflection

The Wednesday evening service at the abbey is our service of creation. We often focus on the actual creation of our world, and this leads to reflections that address the climate crisis, ecological emergency, and other critical issues facing our world.

I have chosen to focus on what we can create that is good and helps our world heal. As you can see, I had fun creating some banners to help us celebrate good things. And in a little bit, I will ask you to create something fun too.

Okay. Here we go.

The banners I’ve made are my nod to Tibetan prayer flags. The prayer flags are traditionally five colors.

Blue for sky and space.

White for air.

Red is fire.

Green symbolizing water, and

Yellow stands for earth.

The flags are used to promote peace, compassion, strength, and wisdom. A common misconception about them is that they carry prayers to God. Actually, Tibetans believe the prayers and mantras represented by their flags are blown by the wind to spread good will and compassion into all the pervading space. The flags are usually hung along trails and peaks high in the Himalayas.

The flags I’ve created are the colors of the rainbow to represent diversity. The many diverse people and ideas that make their way to and from Iona.

Over the last few weeks, I have asked guests, volunteers, and staff members what brings them joy on this island. I started putting their responses on these flags. Delightfully, a lot of the same answers and themes kept coming up.

That was when I decided to take the Tibetan idea of letting the flags bring good will and compassion to this place. Iona is already a place filled with a rich history of spreading good ideas and extending radical hospitality.

It's grand to be here and enjoy those gifts. But it’s a little bit of a bubble.

I’ve been on Iona for 12 weeks. In that time, I’ve learned I can eat many more vegetarian meals than I thought. I’ve stopped to admire the fiddle ferns unfolding, listen for the corncrake’s raspy call though I’ve never seen one. And I’ve frozen my toes in the turquoise water since I left my swim suit at home. I’ve also been challenged with justice issues, comforted with new songs, and loved the rhythm of twice daily worship.

But in 12 days I will be returning to California.

My concern now is how to bring some of these new insights, best practices, and warm feelings back to my own community. I want to spread peace, goodwill, and compassion just like the Tibetan prayer flags.

Just knowing I want to do that is half the challenge. Following through is the problem.

When I get home, debrief, and settle back into life on the mainland, will I remember my desire to engage in a new way? I’ll bring home rocks and books, photos and journal entries. That will help, right? Yet all that seems very much for me alone. So, I will take home a flag as my nudge to remember.

My challenge to you is to take the same goodwill and positive energy home with you. Whatever Iona has offered you, wrap that gift in your heart, and share it with your world when you leave this island.

And to help you, I invite each of you to come up and select one of these colored flags from the table. Maybe you write your intention on it, or maybe you use it as a bookmark, or maybe it goes in the bottom of your suitcase forgotten for a while.

Hopefully you will use this as your nudge to start healing your corner of the world. Hopefully you can be a prayer flag spreading love.

Please come up and take a flag.