My Little Bit on Coracles...

"One of the most striking features of this (the celtic) tradition was its love of wandering or peregrination. In its more extreme form, the peregrini, as they were called, would set sail in a boat without a rudder to be blown wherever the elements might take them. The ideal of the peregrini in the old Celtic Church was defined as 'seeking the place of one's resurrection'. (...) In the Celtic tradition the search to find 'the place of one's resurrection' often led to the wildest and most elemental places. Remote islands and rocky outcrops were the Celtic equivalent to desert places of silence and prayer. (...) The search is always for the Mystery that is deep within creation and yet infinitely other than anything we can know or name. It is a search that takes us into the wild and untamed places within ourselves as well as within nature."

"The Book of Creation: an Introduction to Celtic Spirituality"
J. Philip Newell
(Quotes from Chapter 2: The Second Day: The Wildness of God)

I have found my rocky outcrop. (at least for now...) There is a huge rock that breaks through the trees and gives you a view of the Mississippi river. There is a monument...

I have felt drawn to this place a lot lately, but it wasn't until I began to attempt to write this post that I realized that I AM being DRAWN there. It is a place, for me, where I can be still and enter the "darkness between the galaxies".

Today, before church, I went there. I felt the surety of God. The river was still there and was still calm; even though yesturday was a TERRIBLE, stormy day, relationally. The river was still there. The waters were almost still (which is an amazing trick for a river). The world had not fallen apart just because one relationship in my life seemed to. As I sat there, a falcon flew out from the trees next to me, carrying his breakfast. What a gift. The crows were trying to steal his food and it was wonderful to watch him, with GREAT dignity and strength, not give in to their pestering.

I am a peregrini. (I wonder if the falcon was a Peregrine!!)