Bog #6. May 2nd

I am aboard a super ferry, the Stenaline, crossing the Irish Sea from Belfast, Ireland to Cairnryan, Scotland. This morning, I drove into Dublin and turned in my rental car. I was happily surprised that the insurance paid for the two tires that I blew out on the first day driving. I caught a shuttle to the airport, a taxi to the Port of Dublin to pick up my rail-sail ticket, then taxi to Connally train station, and train to Belfast. I found myself without British pounds and buses and taxis would not accept euros or dollars. There was no currency exchange in either of the train stations. Buses would not take credit cards. The taxi that took me to the port of Belfast had considerable difficulty with credit or debit cards. Finally, the driver agreed to accept euros with unknown exchange rate, rounded off.

The cost of 1 liter bottled water was $5.85 when exchanged for British pounds sterling, and the water aboard this ship is undrinkable. It is happy hour somewhere anyway, a beer will have to do.

As I reach Cairnryan, Scotland, I will still be in Celtic lands with history of speaking a slightly different dialect of Gaelic. A bus and a train will take me to Glasgow for the night. Tomorrow, I take a train, a ferry, a bus, and another ferry to the Isle of Iona for a 1 week silent retreat. Focusing on the inner journey more than the outer one feels more daunting, withdrawal from email and Internet. It is time for a new stage of this pilgrimage to unfold; it is tempting to continue to remain more focused on the beauty and the novelty of the wondrous outer world around me, as I travel. But, this sabbatical is about something else as well, something that involves inner listening, tuning the eyes and ears of my heart to an inner landscape from which to receive direction. Iona, a sacred island, with it’s wild windswept coastline seems like a good place to deepen and pay attention to the inner search. Who knows what is within us? In the modern world of 24/7 responsibility and stimulation, I have found it difficult to stay attuned to the soul and spirit’s voice. I am grateful for the privilege. I pray I use it well.

I acknowledge David Whyte’s book title in the title of this blog.