Journey

From Ikon

This gathering took place in the 'wilderness months' (whenever we were homeless) and happened on a bus which drove around Belfast and stopped at relevant places. The aim of the evening was to explore the theme of journey through a series of reflections on our own individual journeys and the journey of Ikon as a community. We ended with a ritual and reflections exploring the idea of openness to the future.

Ritual

Because the theme of the evening involved reflecting upon the journey of ikon we revisited and reinterpreted the first ever ikon ritual. On the first stop of our journey we visited the birthplace of Ikon (where we met up until recently, whenever it was closed down due to illegal activities),

Here we picked up some small stones from a pile beside this piece of graffiti (drawn, perhaps, as a response to our group),

Then we travelled to the Docks and stood beside the waters edge. The following reflection was given,

“Most of us know the story about the old woman who went to the temple treasury with two small pennies, the entire sum of her wealth, and placed them into the temple treasury. Jesus himself witnessed this and affirmed the woman’s sacrifice before his disciples. However Kierkegaard once re-imagined the story in the following way.

He asked us to imagine that the evening before the son of this woman, knowing she was almost blind and had little feeling left in her hands, exchanged the two tiny coins for two worthless stones. Then, the next day, the woman actually placed these two worthless stones into the treasury. Kierkegaard then asked whether Jesus would still think that such a worthless sacrifice, given absolutely, would still warrant the respect and joy of Christ. The answer being, one would think, yes.

The two worthless stones that we hold in our hands are a symbol of what we have to give, a symbol of who we are and what we are. Tonight is about reflecting upon our journeys and remaining open to further transformation as those journeys continue – always being open to the unpredictable and unknown which lurks in each of our futures. Often this unknown can be wonderful; involving the blossoming of new life, the deepening of old relationships and the widening of our expectations. But it can also turn out to be horrific, including the withering and loss of what we love and cherish most.

As we become older and more wary we often try to hold onto what we are and what we have become and thus attempt to domesticate the journey we are on and render it predictable. These stones represent that life of ours and the water before which we stand represents the fluid flux of existence. Let us take a moment of silence and then, if you would like, offer these stones up to the sea in a commitment to remaining open to the future whatever it holds, in a commitment to living a life that is open to new possibilities and new experiences: in a commitment to hearing the Call anew in our lives”.

At this point we took some time in silence as the rain began to pour. After a couple of minites many of us threw the pebbles into the sea and watched them sink. Then we got back onto the bus and continued the evening...