Yesterday began, as I had mentioned it would in my last blog, with Sung Eucharist at Canterbury Cathedral. Micah and I walked over rather early, and as such, we were seated on the left side of the Compass Rose (the symbol for the Worldwide Anglican Church, which is on the floor in the front of the Nave) pretty far in front of the majority of the congregation. The service was absolutely beautiful -- like seriously, when the choir was singing the Benedictus, I closed my eyes and thought to myself, "I'll bet this is what heaven is like." I am so glad that I got to experience that! A little way down the row from us, there was a young boy, about 12 or so, who looked very sick. His hands were all bandaged up, he was pale and weak, and he walked with a very pronounced limp. It was so sad. Part of me, however, couldn't help but wonder if he and his family were joining themselves with the countless others, particularly in medieval times, who made a pilgrimage to the Cathedral to seek healing. I kind of hope they were. I don't think it's at all fair that miraculous healings have been relegated exclusively to televangelists and non-denominationals, so the thought of a person including themselves within the medieval tradition of making a pilgrimage to a Cathedral/site of a holy martyrdom to be healed warms my heart a little bit. Pray for him, that God may grant him that healing, if it's within His will.
Other than that, yesterday consisted of a lot of wandering around. We wandered around Canterbury, then got on the almost 2 hour train back to London. Whilst on the train, these two little British girls came on and visited with us. Like we were just sitting there, then all of a sudden this head pops up and is like, "Hallo. Would you like to see my puppy?" The youngest, Amy, was 3, and the eldest, Amber, was 5. They were simply precious! They came over to our row and told us all about their summer holidays and spending the weekend with their cousin. It was very sweet. Then we wandered around Westminster that evening. Micah, Jenna, and I even had dinner at this really cute sushi bar, complete with plates that came around via a conveyor belt!
Today was busy indeed! We began with a trip to the British Museum. I think because it had been several years between my last visit and this one, I had forgotten simply how much I love that museum. It contains so much that is vastly important not only to the history of Britain but to the history of the world. And they don't even feel the necessity to put most of it behind glass, which I love. I respect the fact that they recognize that this whatever-it-is has lasted for more than 3500 years exposed to the element so a few people touching it won't be able to do too much damage, and that most decent people will respect a sign that says do not touch anyway. Dr. Hanks, our official unofficial tour guide, began our visit by giving us a tour around the rooms on the left consisting of the ancient civilization things. Dr. Hanks tours are always so much fun. When he was showing us some ancient Babylonian reliefs, his transition between a hunting relief and a war relief was, "Now colleagues, they didn't just kill lions. They killed humans as well." in that voice that only Dr. Hanks can do. It was so funny, I'm still chuckling about it. We had about an hour of free time, and I spent all of it in the Roman Britain room and the Medieval Britain room. I probably could have spent several more hours just in those two rooms, but I was slightly late getting back with the group as it was.
After the museum, we popped into the British Library and saw a lot of simply amazing manuscripts, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament (apparently this is the text from which they derived both the RSV and NRSV translations of the Bible). It was very neat! After the library, we ran over to King's Cross Station to take the obligatory Platform 9 3/4 pictures. I refrained, since I have already taken pictures there, but some of the pictures other people took were very entertaining. Dr. Hanks even took one where he was holding onto the cart and jumping into the air! It was amazing, lol! Then Jenna and I ran to Harrod's so that I could buy some Turkish Delight before we leave town. I <3 it! This evening we saw "As You Like It" at the Globe Theatre. It was utterly amazing. So funny, a little bit dirty (as all Shakespeare is wont to be), but thoroughly enjoyable. Also, it didn't hurt that the guy who played Orlando was rather attractive. ;-) Everyone had a bit of an adventure trying to navigate themselves there, but we all made it safe and sound (which is sort of saying something, because if you've never been, the Globe is not exactly in the best part of London, and 10 out of 11 of us are girls). Micah, Jenna, and I even got Greek for dinner before hand! It was so good -- I love hummus, lol!
Now we're back in the dorm catching up on work, etc. Bed soon, and a rather late start to the day tomorrow -- Dr. Rosenbaum isn't making us meet him until 10 AM. Yay! :-)
No comments:
Post a Comment