Celtic Christians

During the season of Easter, Rhonda and I will use stories and traditions about Celtic Christians to illustrate our sermons. Some cringe at the use of the term, Celtic Christianity, and insist that the church always leaned toward Rome. We cannot deal adequately with that in this item, but we can note that from the fall of Rome to the height of the reign of Charlemagne, many practices of Christians living in what we call Britain, Ireland, and Scotland differed significantly from those in areas more heavily influenced by Rome. Christians in Celtic lands planted seeds that continue to sprout among Presbyterians and other Reformed followers of Jesus.

Celtic Christians valued the oral word above the written word. Even though Celtic hands exquisitely illuminated Bibles, Celtic folk typically embedded the truths they most treasured in stories, poems, and songs shared from memory in the context of everyday life. The Reformed understand that the "word of God" is not the words of scripture written on a page but what the people hear when a preacher interprets and proclaims scripture has decidedly Celtic roots. Celts had written laws and documents, but they most delighted and revered words intended to enter the soul through the ear.

Celtic Christians had a non-linear worldview. They considered the past and present intimately intertwined. Perhaps the most recognizable illustration of this is the term "thin place." A "thin place" is a place, a time, or an individual in which the separation between this world and other worlds become thin and the presence of the divine becomes especially manifest. Brigit, a late fifth and early sixth century Celtic Christian, was often depicted as present at the manger at the birth of Jesus. If that sounds too odd for credibility, consider it from the viewpoint of the words, "Do this in remembrance of me," which we recite during Holy Communion. We don't claim that the loaf and cup transport us to first century Jerusalem, but sometimes past and present intertwine and we feel peculiarly connected with the Upper Room.

For Celtic Christians, life revolved around the community, the clan. Sometimes this made it hard for distinct communities to unite for their own good and sometimes it led to destructive in-fighting; but it also demanded that people hold themselves accountable to their neighbors. Sound familiar? Celtic people typically chose their "kings" not by heredity but by who seemed best suited for leadership by the majority of the community. Celtic Christians readily embraced the concept of the Trinity, because to them it made perfect sense that God existed and lived in relationship.

Celtic Christians loved nature and thought that everything created in some way pointed to the Creator. Whereas Augustine focused on original sin, Celtic theology stressed the goodness of creation. Celtic Christians considered sexuality a blessing from God to embrace in appropriate ways, not something God reluctantly allowed to ensure the continuance of the species. We all shun excess, but embracing goodness takes us in very different directions from avoiding evil.

Celtic lore includes many stories of wandering, roaming, and exploring. Western Christians embraced the pilgrimage, a journey to a holy site that allowed renewal during the trip and at the end. Many Celtic Christians advocated peregrination, a journey taken without a known destination in which the traveler went wherever God led. Some Celtic Christians reportedly set to sea in boats without oars, confident that God would travel with them and take them where they needed to go. They knew better than most of us that something beyond us truly guides our lives.

What's the point? Part of it is to have fun. It's Easter. Let's celebrate. Another part is to proclaim the ever-present diversity among followers of Jesus. Despite every demand for orthodoxy and orthopraxy, followers of Jesus have maintained their uniqueness while seeking and following the same Lord. The more we recognize that, the more we can move beyond mere tolerance to acceptance. In such a gloriously diverse cosmos and in communities filled with diverse people, surely that will lead us more fully into God's embrace.

            Happy Easter!

            LP