Moderator shows "God given creative" streak
Published on 20 August 2025 1 minute read
What a fabulous illustration of "God Given" creativity and up-cycling.
In memory of a visit to an island credited with being the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland, Rt Rev Rosie Frew, the Moderator of the General Assembly, explains how she collected glass washed up on the beach at Iona and turned the pieces into a beautiful memento.
"On our recent presbytery visit to Cleir Eilean I - the Presbytery of the Highlands and Hebrides – my husband Dave and I spent a day on Mull and Iona, places we've visited often over the years.
We often reflect on our most memorable visit.
It was July 2021, COVID-19 restrictions were still in place, a friend offered us his cottage in Bunessan for two weeks.
What an amazing time we had.
With a book on local walks to guide us we explored the coastline of the Ross of Mull.
The weather was sunny, we were off the beaten track, we hardly saw a soul all fortnight, we gloried in the wonders of God's creation.
Our photos don't do it justice.
We went over to Iona a couple of times.
Historic Scotland had a restriction on the number of folk allowed in the Abbey.
We had to book in advance and go with a guide, twelve of us had the whole place to ourselves, our guide quite rightly commenting, ‘you'll never experience it like this again.'
Most days we did a bit of beach combing, despairing at the amount of plastic waste littering the beaches but also delighting in some of our finds.
It was on Iona that we discovered sea glass – bottles, jars and glass, carelessly discarded, tumbled smooth by the waves and currents.
Nature acting like a big rock tumbler, recycling our pollution to form these colourful gems of the shore.
Having gathered it I then ‘Googled' for ideas for using it.
The Iona Cross that we made fits a pane of our living room window in Melrose.
A wonderful reminder of a time and a place, and an expression of both our faith and our God-given creativity.
A reminder also that God, Creator, Son and Spirit, takes us just as we are with all our rough edges and imperfections.
He uses all the experiences of day to day life, our joys and sorrows, the people we encounter and, just like the sea glass, he transforms us.
Thanks be to God."
