Much has been written on the tragedy of the Iolaire. This article was written by Rev Nigel Anderson, Minister of Livingston Free Church particularly focusing on the churches response to the events of 1st Jan 2019.
On 1st
January 1919 a tragedy occurred in Lewis that for generations has cast a dark
cloud over the island. HMY Iolaire had left Kyle of Lochalsh late on December
31st to ferry troops back to their homes, their families, their
loved ones. The ship never made it to Stornoway harbour. At 1.55am it struck the Beasts of Holm, the
dangerous rocks near the shore and entrance of Stornoway harbour. 205
men out of the 283 on board (including 174 Lewis men and 7 Harris men) perished
in sight of land, having survived the horrors of war only to lose their lives
so close to home.
Much has been written in recent months on the tragedy: the
centenary commemoration held in Lewis on 1st January 2019 has, in
particular, brought to a wider national attention the tragic personal accounts
of the lost and bereaved. Also, there has been a renewed understanding of the
devastating social and economic impact on the island which the catastrophic
loss of life contributed to. However, there has been little mentioned regarding
the attitude of the churches at the time, as local clergy tried to bring
comfort to the bereaved and bewildered as they sought to reconcile what had
happened with the providence of God.
Indeed, the whole aspect of the mystery of divine providence
in relation to the tragedy was, in many ways, highlighted in the response of
the Free Church to the Iolaire disaster especially as many of those who lost their lives
were from Free Church congregations. In his Sunday sermon, following the
tragedy Rev. Kenneth Cameron,
minister of Stornoway
Free Church, preached from Psalm 46:10: Be still and know that I am God. He spoke of the dark and
mysterious happenings in the providence of God, mentioning the “sore visitation...wrapped in
mystery” which brought a “heavy cup of unlooked for sorrow” but that “out of
the darkness is heard the voice of Him whose way is in the sea.” Without
denying the catastrophe of the events of 1st January 1919 he pleaded
with his hearers to contemplate the majesty of God, to bow before his
sovereignty, to believe in his righteousness and have recourse to his mercy.
One
might have imagined that the deeply religious island would have turned away
from faith in a sovereign God after the tragedy. Instead we find the opposite.
Murdo Macleod from the village of Leurbost tells of the traditional New Year’s
service held on the morning of 1st January when the villagers
attended worship to give thanks for peace after four years of war. It was only
later that day that the news was heard of the Iolaire sinking and the great
loss of life. Later, that evening, the same villagers visited each of the homes
of the bereaved and held services of worship.
The recorded response of the grief
stricken people across the island who had lost family in the tragedy is that
they “reconciled themselves to God.” Even the non-Christian poet Iain Crichton
Smith wrote that “In some places such a tragedy would have destroyed the
credibility of a loving God: in Lewis it only strengthened their faith in him.”
In today’s secular society such a reaction is inexplicable, but to those who
trust in a sovereign God whose purposes are beyond human understanding, it is an understandable response. Those who have experienced grievous loss have echoed the
words of Job in response to his personal tragedy across the centuries: “The
Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”
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