URC Daily Devotion for 3 9 2025

Notes from Small Islands 3: Selling Cold Islands

Psalm 139: 7 – 10

O where can I go from your spirit,
or where can I flee from your face?
If I climb the heavens, you are there.
If I lie in the grave, you are there.

If I take the wings of the dawn
and dwell at the sea’s furthest end,
even there your hand would lead me,
your right hand would hold me fast.

The Grail Version

Reflection

People are always surprised to hear that tourism is a key component of the vibrant economies of the Northern and Western isles.  These are islands, after all, where the “wings of the dawn” are so strong that one might be blown over, where, in December, it stays dark for a long time, and where drought is a rare problem.  Add to that the difficulties of travel in the winter months with flights and boats often cancelled or delayed, it’s a miracle there’s any tourist industry here at all.  My husband jokes that when I suggested we move to an island, he thought I meant one in the Mediterranean!  There again, in the Summer it doesn’t get dark, beaches are clean, expansive, and uncrowded, and historic sites compete with wildlife and stunning natural vistas which lift the spirit.  Those who work in tourism have had to learn how to sell cold islands to those who wish to have a different type of tourist experience.  

I wonder if the folk who have to sell cold islands have an affinity to contemporary Christians who proclaim God’s coming Kingdom to a world which is indifferent to its values.  We read stories of the earliest Christian missionaries and it seemed to go so well; 3,000 converted at the Day of Pentecost, wandering saints in northern England baptised kings and armies, a monastery on Iona evangelised much of what is now Scotland.  Yet on a recent visit to Manchester I cringed at the evangelist with his loud hailer in Picadilly Gardens shouting at passers by.  Even the genteel tones of Thought for the Day can sometimes grate.  

We live in an age which longs for new, more stimulating, experiences; an age fascinated by spirituality and where that survey by the Bible Society tells us youngsters are wanting to come to Church.   Maybe these islands of faith have life in them which appeals as much as the cold islands of the north.

Prayer

We know, O God, 
you are with us wherever we dwell,
even in cold islands.

We know, O God,
you call all people to yourself,
satisfying, in them, ancient hunger.

Help us, O God,
to proclaim your love,
embody your compassion,
and articulate your justice,
that our world may be saved
and creation made whole.
Amen.