Mission Reformation | Part 3
May 6, 2025 | Written by Second Deputy Friar Bill Broadhurst.
The weather thus far has been unusually fair. But dawn broke over Oban covered by clouds and a cool sea air. Today’s target: the island of Iona.
The infantry commandeered the ferry HMS “Clansman” for transport to our staging area at Craignure on the Isle of Mull. We sent the coach around on a land route to confuse the Scots as to our intentions. The passage to Mull went without trouble, and our hearts were gladdened by clearing skies.
We had a successful rendezvous with the coach at Craignure. We set off on what proved to be a treacherous and precarious journey on a two-way, one-track road across Mull. The details are too troubling to recount, so let it suffice to say that but for the skill and bravery of George the Scot and Tina we would surely have perished. As the existence of this writing attests, we emerged unscathed.
Iona lay before us. In the spirit of the place, we quietly ferried across. Upon landing we were led in devotions by Rev. Link on the shore. This puts her one up on the aforementioned John Knox.
Columba’s establishment of a Christian community on Iona in 563 (no, I did not leave out a number) is well chronicled elsewhere. Like so many before us, we were awed and humbled as we explored the ruins of the settlement. True inspiration and meditation beckoned us to abide, but time and tides conspired against us.
Finding no threat to our mission there, the troops reassembled and retraced our steps on the dangerous journey across Mull. The Clansman retrieved us and ferried us safely back to the pleasures of an evening in Oban.
It should be noted that morale ran high throughout the campaign to this point. As we became better acquainted with one another, camaraderie flourished. Our natural personalities and spirits emerged unrestrained. While this is often a good thing, the Rev. Link was privately alarmed by the nature of some of the spirits that emerged. As guardian of our souls, she was forced to begin her D. Min. studies prematurely with a discreet inquiry into the finer points of Presbyterian exorcisms.
Monsters and massacre loomed in the morning.
