Today is a big holiday in Norway. It can be (very) roughly translated as Christ speeding heavenward on a rocket.
I have been thinking about how when we visit saints caves, or wilderness places, we think of anchorites experiencing remoteness.
What if, while Ninian sat by the sea, he was looking at the best way to travel though. In an era where road transport was long and ardous the experience of sitting on a ship could have been exhilarating. Compared to a cart stuck in mud, a ship flies accross the whale road with the sea tingling your feet through a few inches of wood.
It is the connection between Ultima Thule and the place where Jesus physically made footprints in the sand.
Would he think of himself as remote, or standing right next to the launch pad for a rocket?
Isolated or resting at home? or both at the same time in that way in which mysteries are both kent, and uncanny.
Anyway, this post comes with a prayer to all those adrenaline junkies who get a buzz from the deep peace of the boundless ocean. Excitement in the solidness of stone. Still, but always moving.
