09/08/2026
George MacLeod, born in 1895, was both a Celtic mystic and a Scottish Presbyterian minister known for bringing Celtic spirituality's way of seeing back into the Church. He was famous for saying, "We have been given union with God whether we like it or not...our innumerable 'nows' are our points of contact with God."
MacLeod had a fierce zeal for a spirituality of awareness. God was to be found in the busyness of our lives. Out of his deep resonance with Celtic spirituality, and his desire to keep it alive and understood, MacLeod managed the rebuilding of the 6th Century Celtic Abbey on Iona.
During the rebuilding, MacLeod offered this prayer for the Church as the Body of Christ in the world.
It is not just the interior of these walls,
it is our own inner beings you have renewed.
We are your temple not made with hands.
We are your body.
If every wall should crumble,
and every church decay, we are your habitation.
Nearer are you than breathing,
closer than hands and feet.
Ours are the eyes with which you, in the mystery,
look out in compassion on the world.
So we bless you for this place,
for your directing of us,
your redeeming of us, and your indwelling.
Take us 'outside the camp', Lord,
outside holiness out where soldiers gamble, and thieves curse,
and nations clash at the cross-roads of the world…
So shall this building continue to be justified. Amen
Where is your "outside the camp"? Where is the unglamorous, or compromised corner of your life that God is asking you to see as holy ground?
-Pastor Liz Junod
From: "Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality" by J. Philip Newell
