By Rev. Dr. Larry Scyner.

On the North East coast of England lies a tiny island called Lindisfarne, or Holy Island.  In AD 635 St. Aidan, one of the Celtic Saints, was sent from Iona to work in Northumberland.  An apocryphal story relates that he spent some time with the king, Oswald, at an enormous castle and the seat of his Kingdom, Bamburgh, just a few miles from the Island.  The king invited Aidan to stay there in the safety and comfort of his castle, but Aidan told him that he must move to Lindisfarne, to the very edges of his kingdom.  Lindisfarne is connected to the mainland by a causeway, and for half of every day the island is cut off by tides.  So truly the first Celtic Christian outpost in the North East of England was very much on the edge, connected to and separate from the larger community.

This Lent we too are travelling along the edge, the edges of our society and community.  As Christians we recognize our connectedness to our culture and civilization, as we also recognize our separation and distance from prevailing values and patterns of life. Our Wednesday Lenten noonday addresses will have the theme of “Our Journeys on the Edges”, and we will have an opportunity to hear and learn from people active at the edges of our society. We will be reflecting on those elements of our society which are outside the mainstream.   We will be reflecting on our relationship with First Nations, with the Moslem community, with the mentally ill, with disadvantaged women, especially those engaged in the sex trade, and with our relationship to our environment.

St. Aidan separated himself from the security and activity of the King’s domain, so we will be trying this Lent to stand aside for a while, to stand at the edges of our regular life and experience, and contemplate our relationship with our edges.  As we seek to reflect on what God is calling us to be and to do, we are encouraged to reflect on the less familiar aspects of our community and society.  When Aidan retired he went to an even more remote island to immerse himself in prayer and contemplation.  So too this Lent we are called to prayer and self-examination.

For more information about the noon Lenten series “Journeys along the Edges” click HERE

The Rev. Dr. Larry Scyner has been an honorary assistant at St. John the Divine Anglican Church, Victoria  for many years. He is currently priest in charge. He ministered as a hospital chaplain in Montreal and more recently as the director of the Pacific Centre for the Family in Victoria. In the last couple of years has led parishes through important transitions at the Church of the Advent and at St. Mary the Virgin, Metchosin. 

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