A Safe Place to Rest

On Iona there are so many beautiful tiny stones, and hand-sized pebbles, and so many rocks to climb over, but now and then you find the occasional very big boulder.

 

I'm not great at estimating, but in the case of the ones above, I would say at least 10 or 12ft high, or more. These immense rocks were leaning on each other in such a way that, of course there was no chance of them moving, and yet you could see they were balanced. That in itself threw up lots of metaphors and creative thoughts for me.

When I went near them, I felt a strong sense:

 

I really wanted to experience the hiding and protection of something that big, that natural, that no one could have planted there or designed where it should go. I had such a strong sensation that this was just about me - a human animal - looking for a very naturally-formed safe place to rest. 

It started when I was walking past and noticed a small (but not too small!) gap between the rocks. Normally I wouldn't have considered going near, but this being a virtual camino, I decided I would take the opportunity and climb in. I knew I was facing the risk of meeting birds or animals I didn't expect in there. Fortunately nothing came out to greet me.

 

I sat in that tiny open cave for a few minutes. And as I sat, I realised it was not the all-round shelter that I craved, but the rock face itself. So I climbed up on top of the 'roof' to lean properly against the biggest surfaces of stone. If you imagine the centre of this formation as being like a huge armchair with a flat back — I sat there, my head not even halfway up the back of the 'seat.'

 

I found myself crying. 

 

I was away from anyone's gaze, experiencing the no-nonsense, unarguable protection of this enormous ancient natural element.

 

So many thoughts came to mind. The buffeting sea breeze couldn't reach me there. It was completely calm. However hard I pushed against it, it wasn't going to move or break. No one had placed those stones there - this was a completely organic experience that had no other human involved. It wasn't even like being near a tree that could have been planted, or pruned. It's been a long time since I felt that unarguably safe and protected, without me having to do a thing.

As I was sitting there, I remembered a talk I heard recently. It was on the Bible story where Jacob uses a stone as a pillow and has a big and vivid dream that night of it being a very special place… The speaker laughed off the idea that this could be literal. He said the writers of that Old Testament story must have been playing games with the reader because a rock would be so uncomfortable it made no sense!

 

Well, maybe.

 

But this morning, I promise you, leaning my head against that rock face was so comfortable, and so comforting. And I'm not suggesting anything super-spiritual or magic about that, I'm just saying that my head and my heart were filled with good things as I sat there for a bit and let myself be a human being needing a strong, safe place in the world.