Wonder Voyage 2009 Summer Blog

Today each of us had a great day at Galway!  We visited two churches, one from the 1400’s and then a big cathedral built in the 1900’s.  We then visited a café/ministry called An Tobar Nua, had some dessert and then learned a little about the café ministry.

When dinner came around we had shepherds pie, baked potatoes, mashed potatoes and fried potatoes as well as tea and coffee.  I tried to get some salt for my potato and I didn’t know that the lid was undone and I poured a hug pile of salt on my potato and Bryan said, “you won’t have any trouble with the flavor now.”

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After dinner, we went down to the street to sing in the festival.  We were all really nervous and some didn’t want to do it but we came together and pulled it off.  Jason and Eamon (our Wonder Voyage guides) said we did a good job and even had a few people stop to listen as they were passing by.  After we sang, we walked down shop street some more to watch some of the festival and see other street performers. 

Our final day on the Island of Inis Oirr was marked by many wonderful experiences. The pilgrims from Charlotte swam in the Atlantic Ocean, watched a hurling match, attended an Irish school dance, and visited the 10th Century church of Saint Kevin. The day began with a visit to the remarkable Church founded by the patron saint of the Island C. The church has a beautiful story as it is buried every year by the blowing sand from the beach. On June 13th every year the Islanders gather to dig out the church and restore it so that pilgrims from around the world can see this remarkable place of worship. The group from Christ Episcopal were invited to reflect over their lives and find what had become buried and needed to be uncovered in their lives. They where encouraged to dig deep and meet God there beneath the surface of their lives. Below you will find a few stories about the day told by the pilgrims themselves.
 
Our night began when we were invited to go dance at the local school. We soon arrived to the building and were swarmed by 140 Irish students that seemed as if they had never seen Americans before. Suddenly, the traditional Irish tunes started to play. We did not know what we were getting ourselves into; therefore we decided to sit in the back of the room. It was the guys turn to ask the girls if they would dance with them, and so out of the blue guys surrounded us in their early teens. At first I was frightful of trying these new styles of dance out because I, like many others, did not want to make a fool of myself. We got out on the dance floor and before everyone knew it, we were dancing as if it was bookwork. I was amazed at all of the student’s ability to pay attention and not be distracted by our presence. The music would always get faster and the dances would become harder and more intricate each go-round. Every couple of dances the students would take a break and sing a traditional Irish song. The dances were like a comparison of promenade and cotillion in America.  It was by far the best night on the trip! We got to know the students and also were able to pick up a couple of new dances to bring home and share with our family and friends. Having the opportunity to experience a new culture and associate ourselves with students like us was an adventure in itself.   -Rachel R and Kristen T

The national sport for Ireland is hurling and it has been present throughout our trip. Basically, it is played like lacrosse but with no pads and a sort of enlarged field with an odd shaped hockey stick. It is safe to say that it is one of the gnarliest sports. On Thursday the group went to go watch Galway practice for their championship game against Kilkenny. Even though the weather was not what we may have liked, it was exciting to watch. Attending a Galway practice is a pretty big deal because people are usually not allowed to disturb the team while they are practicing. At the end of the practice they gave us a hurler stick and ball, which the entire team signed, and a Galway flag. On Saturday afternoon, a group of friends and I spent the late afternoon at the pub on the Aran Island watching the game. We were enthralled with the atmosphere of the locals cheering on their favorite team and sipping on their favorite brews. It was an amazing sight and you can easily begin to appreciate the physically demanding sport. It was a very close game, but in the end the reigning champions, Kilkenny, came out with the victory. Hurling is a sport of skill, endurance and toughness. It is a violent and exhilarating sport that the group has enjoyed throughout the trip. -Miller         
 
Last night was a very special one. Lauren told us to dress warmly and to bring a sleeping bag and the rock from earlier that day that represented our burdens. Without any knowledge of where we were going or what we were doing (as usual) we set out together at about ten o’clock at night. As the sky began to darken, we reached the Church of St. Kevin, which we had visited earlier that day. However, it had been transformed since then. Colored candles flickered in all of the nooks and crannies of the stones and in the evening light the whole place seemed to glow. It was very apparent that God’s presence was all around us. We sat down, snuggled into our sleeping bags, and began to sing our praise songs from memory. Then, we proceeded to go around and discuss the burdens in our lives (which were represented by the rocks). We also talked about what we would like to leave behind in Ireland and how we want to be different when we return to Charlotte. But the most beautiful part of this was that we also comforted each other and praised each other’s strengths. We also took communion at the altar of this ancient church.  Next, Lauren led us out of the church on a silent walk in complete darkness to the pier. Here, we stood in a circle and sang the Irish Blessing. After reading a Bible verse about burdens, Lauren instructed us to reach into her bag and grab a rock, regardless of whom it belonged to, and throw it into the sea. By doing this we were metaphorically leaving our burdens in Ireland. This marked the end of the evening and we returned to the hostel for one last night’s sleep in the Aran Islands. –Sara S  

Tomorrow we return to Galway for our final day before flying home. Once in Galway we will spend some time on the beach with a wonderful story teller sharing folk tales with the pilgrims from Christ Episcopal.  

When we bring a group like the community from Christ Episcopal to a distant land like Ireland, we try to help the pilgrims experience the culture in the land. The question then becomes, how will these cultural collisions effect us, or more directly how will these collisions affect the Pilgrims on their journey? Traveling to the sleepy Aran island can be like stepping back in time to a slower more deliberate life. Today our pilgrims from Charlotte N.C. began to discover how another culture and daily rhythm can impact their lives. I asked Catherin D to share her reflections on the day.

“This morning was an early one because we had to leave for the Aran Islands, three small islands off the coast of Galway is our destination for the next couple of days. We woke up around 7 and road with Seamus, our faithful bus driver who dropped us off at the Ferry along with a couple of packets of motion sickness pills. Elise was one of the worst on the boat, her fear of sea sickness along with the idea that “staring at the horizon line” got her through it.Life on the islands can begin to introduce the self reflection one needs to begin examining the life we are living and begin to imagine what it could look like if we are willing to change.

 Once we arrived on the tiny island of Inis Oirr we walked the 200 yards to the small hostel located on the coast with an AMAZING view of the water. Squeezed in between a Bed and Breakfast and a Pub (shocking), was our new home for the next two nights. Roommates were assigned and then the group headed off for another adventure. Not knowing where we were headed we walked down a road surrounded by cow pastures and stone walls…. When we came to a fork in the road the decision was made to take a left. Down the road that we just happened to pick was a slab of concrete overlooking the ocean surrounded by huge boulders. During this time we separated, found our own personal rocks and wrote in our journals. After some down time, we headed to a huge SHIPWRECK.  Plassey, the name of the ship that now sits about 40 feet above sea level was a cargo ship that unfortunately, was swept up by the Atlantic and thrown onto the land during a huge Storm. The analogy of a shipwreck both in the literal sense and the spiritual and emotional sense gave us something to think about as we walked around the rusted boat remains.

After the exploration, Team one (the winning team that I was in who cooked some MAD chili) took a quaint little horse buggy ride around the island. One stop along the way of our buggy tour was at the Holy Well. The drinkable well water was holy to the Irish and if you saw the eel in the water it was said, you were sent straight to heaven. Olivia and Scott, being curious decided that it would be a great idea to make friends with the donkey that was watching us. Scott saved a life at this moment when he gracefully hit the donkey away just as it was trying to bite Olivia’s hand off. Only a small scratch in her hand remains.   

Now let me tell you, the population of this island is hovering at a cool 250 and our gigantic group makes it skyrocket to the big 300. The lives lived by the native Irish are a VERY simple one. Only one grocery store and souvenir shop are available on the island although there are 3 pubs surrounding the island. Tonight we used those pubs, two to be exact but only coke was consumed along with beef lasagna and “Chips” aka Fries. After our delicious dinner at Tigh Ruairi, we headed down the hill to the second pub where we once again drank cokes and the occasional red bull while we listened and danced to traditional Irish music. After our music stop, some of us headed down to the coolest playground ever! This playground contained a zip line, type rope, and huge spinning climbing cage so when I say it’s the coolest ever, I’m telling the truth. Today was another great day that ended in a stubbed toe for me. Cant wait for tomorrow!

At 16, he was captured off the coast of Britain and sold as a slave to an Irish chieftain.  The next 6 years of his life he would shepherd both pigs and sheep, and he was never treated as well as either. Saint Patrick after living as a slave returned to Ireland to share Gods love for the pagans of the day. But their eyes were blind; their hearts hard; their ears deaf to the truth.

Croagh Patrick was a spiritual place of prayer and Patrick came to this old familiar mountain, (a place the old ones came to pray for the blessings of the gods and to beg for their mercy for hundreds of years), spending 40 days fasting for Ireland. After those 40 days, Patrick would come down the mountain, filled with boldness to preach the gospel of Christ.  The next 20 years, the entire nation would flood to the savior and within 40 years slavery and human sacrifice would be obliterated.

Today was a day of climbing for the pilgrims from Christ Episcopal. Here are two stories of one of the toughest pilgrim climb’s you can imagine. In the foot steps of Patrick these Pilgrims from Charlotte N.C. amazed themselves.

Mary’s Thoughts

I awoke this morning thinking my climb would be easy, breezy, and I thought surely I’d stay at the front of the pack like I did on the Cliffs of Moher, but boy was I mistaken.  Seamus drove us up to where I caught my first glimpse of the massive peak towering above us. Now it was time to begin our trek to the summit of Croagh Patrick.

We had just begun when I was eating wind, this was not a good sign, but I pushed on despite the cold weather and rocky terrain.  I headed up the back with Captain Kirk, Z-Pitty (Zeta), Alex, Jeff, Chris and Olivia.  We trucked on, then just as we thought the slope could not get any steeper, it did.  We gazed up at a crazy incline, but we kept moving.  Then as our muscles ached more than ever, God unleashed his frozen tears (aka: hail) that pelted down on us.  The wind roared, but help came from above.  Blake, Jack and Zach emerged from the summit down the steepest section of the mountain.  Little did I know Blake and Jack were going to take the trek back up the mountain with us, encouraging us to continue trying.  Without their encouragement, honestly, I may have quit.

Finally we reached the top. The feeling was indescribable. The clouds parted, showing us the beautiful view below.  We turned around to head back down.  I looked to see Jack and Blake running quickly down the mountain. Z-Pitty, Captain Kirk, Elise and I took our sweet time, hoping we wouldn’t fall.  Yet, I did… multiple times.  Lets just say I spent the majority of the time on my fanny in the mud. Although this climb pushed me mentally and physically to the limit, it was well worth it, and one of the best accomplishments ever! Mary Padget.

Blake’s Thoughts
We hopped on the bus with Seamus, who is definitely the coolest bus driver ever, and drove 2 hours to Croagh Patrick.  Me and a couple of guys were extremely pumped to climb this boss of a mountain.  One in particular, Jack—he’s a beast.  He mostly lead our pack with me closely behind.  Of course, Mary Padgett (aka: M-Pizzy), started out strong.  But she slowly fell behind.  About 10 of us lead the pack up the slope.  Although Seamus reassured us that the elderly could climb this mountain, it soon became clear that this would not be easy.  Early on we kept a steady pace all the way up, with a few stops along the way. Although the estimated time to the top was 2 hours, me, Jack, Miller, Justin, Elizabeth (Da Rymple), Claudia and Zach reached the summit first—in one hour.  There we waited for the 40-some other pilgrims to reach the top, encouraging them as they climbed.

When everyone made it to the top, Jack and I decided to run down the mountain, making it back in a record breaking 30 minutes.  Of course, this wasn’t my idea, it was Jack’s, because he wanted to finish first. This great adventure was definitely one of the best I’ve ever experienced and would love to do it again.

The struggle of life and the agony in life’s climb can overwhelm us. When the wind blows and the rain falls if we fix our eyes on Jesus all things are possible. Our God is a good God.

Times together in the presence of our God are so sacred. Today was such a time for the pilgrims from Charlotte N.C.  Listening to one another and to God can be a Sacrament. Today the team truly found one another and in doing so they each grasped a greater glimpse of God. Kirk, a fellow pilgim, and adult chaperon from Christ Episcopal wrote the excerpt below.
 
We started our day with a good visit to Clonmacnoise which was a monastic community started be St Ciaran. The scope of this community and its impact on early Christianity in Ireland is huge. We all learned a great deal, however we experienced such an amazing 3-hour wrap up time at the end of the day we felt we should talk about that instead. The evening closing circle began well with everyone sharing what they had written in their journals. In our journals we had placed a list of Bible verses that corresponded with feelings we might be experiencing. Do you feel lost, alone, afraid, sad, etc? We began to express what we where feeling in relation to where we where at the time. People opened up like never before. Romans 12:15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn.” People shared what was going on in their lives, and opened up their hearts to one another and expressed their love, respect, and support for one another. Lee said it best “Hearts where open and tears where shed.” Anne was ready to break into a chorus of, “surely the presence of the lord is in this place.” Lauren said she thought she knew everyone, but found that she didn’t know everyone as well as she thought.
 
One final word about the Stone Soup exercise that we spoke about in a previous blog post, we finished with a fantastic meal of grilled Kabobs and Chris Weiss tomato pie. Each group of 3 teams used this exercise to learn cooperation and community. The growth has been tremendous and we look forward to hiking Croagh Patrick tomorrow.

Off of the western wilds of Ireland, stand the Cliffs of Moher. This magnificent precipice looks toward the Atlantic and for ages, Irish monks came to this lonely spot praying and waiting for the coming kingdom. We took the pilgrims from Christ Episcopal there and gave them the opportunity to take time to soak in the beauty and to journal their thoughts. The following is what they had to say about their day together.

“Today our group visited the small town of Doolin. We spent an hour checking out the shops and eating lunch before we began our hike to the Cliffs of Moher. We started out on a gravel road and after awhile we  turned off on to a grassy trail that led us along the cliffs edge towards the cliffs of Moher. The views where really pretty awesome. As we walked the cliffs grew higher and higher above the sea below. Our view morphed into one which became more and more spectacular. About half way up it was easy to tell that everyone was amazed by what we where seeing. We where hiking on the edge of 800 ft cliffs seeing panoramic views of the Irish sea along with the rolling hills of the Irish country side. No one could stop talking about the beauty of what we where seeing. Many of us agree that this was one of the best experiences of our lives. The freedom and peace which you feel on those cliffs knowing that we where witnessing one of the most beautiful and spectacular vistas is an experience which can’t justifiably be described with words. It is truly a feeling of wonder and awe at the natural beauty of Gods creation.”

As we arrived together for a moment of reflection, the pilgrims were asked to  ponder upon how much the Cliff’s are a picture of God.  Majestic, terrifying, glorious, dangerous.   Many in the world today have lost a healthy fear of God.  The book of Proverbs proclaims that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  The fear of God is the ability to both call Him Abba Father and yet be utterly awed by Who He is.  It is to look into the face of God and live- to behold His beauty and majesty in a reverence that causes a mind-altering silence. This is the experience that griped these pilgrims from Charlotte N.C.

Our team of pilgrims from Charlotte N.C. are a fun and good hearted group with a passion for making life fun. Our day was filled with a proper blend of exploration, adventure, and wonder. These are the qualities that make a great pilgrimage. Today’s journey is outlined by one of the pilgrims and gives you a picture of what our third day was like.

After breakfast we packed our lunch for the day and headed over to the chapel in the youth village where we are staying on the grounds of the Monastery. We shared some cool stories about community service and then had a tour of the Monastery established by the Dominican priests along time ago. On the tour we visited the prayer gardens and the grave yard where all the monks are buried. We also saw Dominic’s well. We finished our tour by gathering together in the room where all the monks do their morning prayers. We broke into groups and served the monastery by doing service projects around the grounds.

In the afternoon we went to the city of Athenry to visit a Norman Castle. We walked around the city and went to the grocery store to buy our supplies for Stone Soup. Over the next three days we will have a contest between our three groups to see who can cook the best meal as a team on a limited budget. We ended our time in Athenry at an old Abbey from the 1400s. We spent some time there journaling about how we would like to be remembered in this life. We came home to the Monastery to rest a bit while the first group made cottage pie for dinner. It was shepherds pie with beef instead of lamb. We ended our evening with a time of prayer and reflection around the 14 stations of the cross. After wards we played capture the flag and went to bed. I know everyone misses you at home.

As this group of pilgrims walk together, they are finding  thin places where heaven and earth seem to collide, allowing them to glimpse the other side.  I can see the group growing closer in authentic community. These are moments of wonder that we are experiencing every day.