Luss: Green Pilgrimage

Submitted by Alan Marsden on Mon, 13/08/2018 - 08:59

Luss is that pretty, picture-postcard Highland village upon which the waves of Loch Lomand lap. Quaint, single-storey cottages, a gentle river and mountainous scenery all contribute to this wee settlement’s popularity with tourists, receiving as it does 750,000 per annum. To my delight, I realised I’d visited before- 25 years to the day with my grandmother on one of our holidays. There is of course an attractive church, in whose grounds are interred some earls and clan chiefs. To its rear is a large field, the centre-piece of which is a large Celtic cross. A welcome sign explains that it is a place of pilgrimage. Since AD 520, pilgrims have come to the site where St Kessog first brought Christianity from Ireland before druids rather vulgarly killed him. The field is really a large nature reserve, with wild grasses and trees. Mown paths guide visitors around, and a series of signs offer information about other ‘green’ pilgrimage sites around the world. There are Muslim ones, Sikh, Shinto and all manner of religions represented, which the information boards gleefully explicate. Sadly, there were no scriptures or explanations of the gospel. What a pity- all those visitors being told about all these different faiths and the need to care for the natural world, but no attention given to God’s offer of sins forgiven.

As I walked about the site, I was stopped by a quagmire, across which I could not pass without muddying my feet. The bridge had been removed. An apt picture, I thought, as I turned around and found the exit.