From Ireland with Love
This month in honor of Love and the trip to Ireland, we are featuring a beautiful testimony of love from the last trip to Ireland with Asbury.
Our Celtic Engagement
Nicholas and Sarah Seiber, Asbury Theological Seminary, MDiv, Pilgrims #AsburyIreland2015
On August 15, 2015 Sarah and Nicholas were engaged at Glendalough, Co. Wicklow, Ireland on Asbury Theological Seminary’s Christian Pilgrimage as Spiritual Practice.
Glendalough, Co. Wicklow, Ireland – where Nicholas proposed to Sarah. For thousands of years people have been drawn to “the valley of the two lakes” Glendalough is home to one of the most important monastic sites in Ireland. This early Christian monastic settlement was founded by St. Kevin in the 6th century and from this developed the “Monastic City” (Photo Credit: J. Vondel Stevens, ATS, MDiv)
We were the last to sign up and so thankful that we did! Our group of fellow Pilgrims made our engagement a most joyous celebration and did an excellent job keeping the secret from the bride-to-be! For us, the focus of this trip was understanding pilgrimage as a medium for spiritual formation — something remarkable happens to us when we step out in faith on a journey. In this manner, we expected God to meet us on our pilgrimage to Ireland while also discovering the historicity of the Celtic Christian pilgrimage to the world. We are so grateful for the willingness of the saints of Ireland who, by God’s grace, brought the gospel message to the Celtic people and influenced the world.
It was a dualistic formation experience really, appreciating the past of rich Celtic spirituality and also “planting our staff” to embark on another spiritual journey – marriage. We are both strongly tied to Ireland and Scotland through our heritage, but also through our spirituality. We anticipate the journey, but also appreciate the beauty of the present.
We literally journeyed to our homeland and found our new spiritual home. Saint Brigid was one of the many Celtic saints who insisted that a vital component of the spiritual life is having a soul friend or anam cara. A person who you bond with most intimately spiritually who helps you grow and know the love of God more completely. In our case, that is our spouse; therefore, we felt it most appropriate to have a Celtic themed wedding and use the phrase Mo Anam Cara, My Soul Friend. According to John O’Donahue, an accomplished Irish poet, philosopher and Catholic priest, “You are joined in an ancient and eternal union with humanity that cuts across all barriers of time, convention, philosophy and definition. When you are blessed with an anam cara, the Irish believe, you have arrived at that most sacred place: home.”
We pray that your pilgrimage is as rich and transformative as ours.
May God be with you, dia dhuit!
Just imagine your own story and adventure with Reg Johnson! Don’t miss your chance to travel to Ireland on this spiritual journey!
What: Trip to Ireland with Reg Johnson, Tammy Cessna, & Asbury Seminary
When: June 21-30, 2016
Cost: $3268 from New York/$3616 from Lexington *Prices are estimated
mountain tops, oak groves, rippling streams, holy wells, burial places of ancestors, boundaries between sea and shore, sky and land… and, if you are very still and quiet, sometimes you can almost hear the beat of angel wings!More Information can be found at: http://elink.asburyseminary.edu/alumni-trip-to-ireland/
Or you can contact the Alumni Office at alumni@asburyseminary.edu and we can send you a brochure with more information about this wonderful opportunity.
Want to register, visit www.EO.travel/mytrip and enter the following information: http://www.eo.travelwithus.com/tours/ir16-55601#eotours
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