An Ancient Way

Celtic spirituality is an old stream of Christian tradition which has come to me in the last few years in such a way that it seems like one of those new things God is doing in my life.  Celtic spirituality goes back to the fifth and sixth century.  Inside the regions of Ireland and Scotland it took root and grew in a time empty of the control and influence of the Roman Catholic Church.  In some ways it bears the primitive markings of an authentic spiritual culture which was not shaped by the dogma and the ritual of the early church anchored by the ways of the Apostles and later Augustine.  This stream of faith was influenced more by John, the disciple, who is said to have heard the heartbeat of God as he leaned over the chest of Jesus at the final meal. 

Thus, it is a tradition not bound by the discipline and doctrine of the early church.  As this Celtic tradition has found its way to my heart, it has been received like a breath of fresh air.  The Creation is spoken of with such reverence and authority that it is likened unto a second sacred book.  It is also a faith which has great respect for the Word of God.  As I began a life here at the farm some fourteen years ago, I knew that some new way of seeing old things was growing within me, but it had no name until the stream of Celtic spirituality started unfolding before me.   

Some have mistakenly described it as pantheistic.  It is a spiritual tradition which is not pantheistic (God is all things), but panentheistic (God reveals Himself in all things).  Another defining feature is that these ancient Celtic saints traveled as pilgrims, but their destination was not to some specific place such as a holy shrine, but to the place of their resurrection, or the place of their new beginning.  Their spiritual journeying was modeled after Abraham who was called by God to go to a land "...that I will show you."  (Genesis `12:1)  Again and again it has seemed that my journey since retirement has been to the land of "know not where."  In the spirit of Abraham and these Celtic saints who came after him and before me, I now go.