Lent: Celtic-style

Something that captures my attention about Celtic Christians is the simplicity of their faith. I think we have much to learn from Celtic Christianity in our busy lives, with overcomplicated schedules and endless church meetings.


Their joy was not based on achievement or material possessions, but in loving and caring for each other and in being grateful for all that God had created for them and blessed them with. I think we need to rediscover that sense of simplicity, thankfulness and wonder - perhaps by fasting from the things that shackle us or get in the way of our relationship with God. Lent is an excellent time to begin living more simply.


What will you give up or take up for Lent?

Reluctant Heroes

This month I'm reflecting on St Patrick as it's St Patrick's Day 17th March; and King George VI - with all the Oscar success of the The King's Speech. I recently shared with you a favourite poem of King George VI and the Queen Mother.

But what do St Patrick and King George VI have in common? 

Answer - they were both reluctant heroes.

King George VI reluctantly became King when his brother, King Edward VIII, chose abdication in preference to abandoning his marriage plans to a divorced woman. The oscar winning The King's Speech depicts George's journey from stammering obscurity to King of Great Britain.

St Patrick was not Irish, neither can he have been particularly keen on Ireland originally, because when he was sixteen he was captured by Irish raiders and sold into slavery there! He escaped six years later when God appeared to him in a vision and showed him how to escape. Some years later God sent him back to Ireland as priest and he later became Bishop of Ireland.

Which reminds me of the prophet Jonah who when summoned by God to prophesy the destruction of Nineveh, ran in the other direction! It took Jonah three days of whale captivity for him to change his mind!

Listening to God is a challenging business. I wonder if you've ever wanted to run from the call of God? I know I have! When God called me to become a missionary, I wanted to run away. I was reluctant, because I thought God would send me to India or Africa. Thank goodness God knows our hearts and uses us where we are and where we can most effectively serve him.

In order to follow God's leading, we need God's strength. I love this prayer attributed to St Patrick. Try praying it aloud several times:

I arise today

Through the strength of heaven:

Light of Sun,

Radiance of moon,

Splendour of fire,

Speed of lightening,

Swiftness of wind,

Depth of sea,

Stability of earth,

Firmness of rock.

Celtic Treasure

'I can do all things through him who gives me strength.' Philippians 4:13

How I became interested in Celtic Christianity

Ten years ago I spent some time travelling across Britain visiting Scotland, Northumbria and Ireland while writing my first Celtic gift book The Celtic Heart (Lion, 2003). Originally, this book did not have a Celtic theme, but during my trip across Britain, I found myself increasingly drawn to, and inspired by, the radical faith and lifestyle of the Celtic saints. They have left a lasting impression on the landscape, and have touched the hearts of countless people across the centuries.


When I sailed with friends by yacht to Iona, I felt an incredible sense of connection with these saints and their passion to make Jesus known. Even the difficulty we had anchoring, reminded me of the incredible dangers these monastic missionaries faced on the open seas—many dying sharing their faith.


But it was when I visited the stunningly beautiful tidal island of Lindisfarne (or Holy Island), that I realized I was no longer a tourist, but a pilgrim in search of ‘the ancient paths’. An inner transformation had taken place that deepened my faith and began to change the course of my writing.

Stand at the crossroads and look;

ask for the ancient paths,

ask where the good way is,

and walk in it,

and you will find rest for your souls.

(Jeremiah 6:16)

Putting your hand into the hand of God

'So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.' (Isaiah 41:10 NIV)


Many folk by now will have broken their New Year resolutions. But does it really matter? The Bible doesn’t tell us to put our trust in man-made resolutions, but in God. During these uncertain and troubling times, we especially need to put our hand into his, and trust him to guide, strengthen and support us.  


'Stop stressing. I'm here for you. Hold on to me and let me sort things out.' (Isaiah 41:10) My translation!


To put your hand into God’s requires surrender - a letting go into God. I sometimes visualize this as falling back into his arms. 


* So let's imagine putting our hand into the hand of God now. Can you visualize this? 


I love this famous poem sometimes referred to as 'The Gate of the Year'. It was this poem that the Queen Mother, a devout Christian, asked to be read at her funeral. This poem was a source of comfort throughout her life and she had  it engraved on the gates of the Memorial Chapel at Windsor Castle, where her husband, King George VI, was interred. King George VI (you may have seen Colin Firth as the King in the 'The King's Speech'), quoted it in his 1939 Christmas broadcast to the British Empire. 

I said to the man

who stood at the gate of the year

“Give me a light that I may tread safely

into the unknown.”

And he replied: “Go out into the darkness

and put your hand into the hand of God.

That shall be better than light

and safer than a known way!”

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God

trod gladly into the night.

M. Louise Haskins (1875-1957)

Christmas is Here!

Happy Christmas

Christmas is Here!

Kings travel from afar

Christmas is coming...

Guided by the brightest star

Christmas is coming...

Bringing gold, frankincense and myrrh

Christmas is coming... 

To the Son of Man born on earth

Christmas is here!

Liz Babbs

The Power of Silence

“Progress in intimacy with God means progress towards silence.” (Richard J Foster).

How can we make space for God during this busy Advent season? One way is be silent! In ‘The Big Silence’ - a three part BBC documentary broadcast recently, a group of five busy professionals (only one of them a Christian) found God in incredibly deep ways through spending time in silence at a monastery. But the hardest challenge they faced, was making space for silence once they were back home.  

St Beuno’s, the monastery where part two of ‘The Big Silence’ was filmed, was the home of the famous poet and Jesuit priest, Gerard Manley Hopkins. Many of my books grow out of the soil of silence written either at home or while staying at my local Anglican convent. But you don’t have to visit a monastery or convent to find some silence. Here are some suggestions:

• Switch off the radio, TV, cell phone and computer etc.
• Go for a walk. 
• Sit in the garden. (Even better build a shed or poustina in your garden)
• Wear ear plugs!
• Put on your headphones but don’t switch on your iPod. Folk then leave you alone because they think you’re listening to music! 
• Use your car as a sacred bubble. I often travel for hours on the motorway in silence as preparation for an event I’m about to lead. If you travel by public transport, then the ‘pretend headphones’ technique works well!

Let’s try a few minutes silence now:

In order to find the pathway that leads to intimacy with God, we need to discover the gift of silence, for it is in the silence of the heart that God speaks.  

So let’s spend a few minutes just enjoying the silence… You might like to close your eyes…Don’t worry if thoughts or distractions pop into your mind – that’s quite normal… Simply visualise yourself placing them to one side like piles of papers (you can always pick them up later if you choose to)… Now try to ‘tune out’ the noise and clutter of life and ‘tune in’ to the stillness and peace...

Silence is...             

A space in time to retreat.

A place to grow, to be watered and fed.

To learn only those things 

that flourish

 in its soil.

from ‘The Pilgrim Heart’ Liz Babbs 

Solitude and Community

Solitude and community can seem a bit of a contradiction, but Celtic spirituality was earthed in solitude as well as community. The Celts did not see one way of living out their faith as separate from another, but wove them together.  Monks lived alone in cells, which were basic stone huts where they could pray. Here's a photo of Skellig Michael, one of the most ancient examples of a Celtic monastic community. It is 9 miles off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland and is the place I'd most like to visit.

Solitude in the monastic tradition, did not cut a person off from the real world, it made them more in tune with it. In fact, a contemporary definition of the word 'monk' described by Ray Simpson is ‘one who separates from everybody in order to be reunited to everyone’. 

i love visiting St Cuthbert’s Island, the secluded tidal island alongside the Lindisfarne Priory, where Cuthbert used to retreat to pray. I wrote this prayer whilst standing where his cell is meant to have been:

Lord, make me and island

set apart for you.

Where the rocks of ages

ring out with praise.

Where the waters of your spirit

saturate my soul

and the fire of your presence

burns deep within.

(Liz Babbs) 

(Taken from p.38 Celtic Treasure - Liz Babbs)