A fair nights sleep, a large tasty breakfast, and a small group headed to church. Nearly late due to the crowds at the Underground to get on the tube. But some brisk walking (and I mean brisk) and we arrived. I removed my hat, walked in, and nearly lost my breath.
We were at the Westminster Abby http://www.westminster-abbey.org/ and it was truly a stunning experience. The single most beautiful, ornate, magnificent structure I have ever seen. Almost unable to move and having trouble breathing, we were ushered to seats on the side and prepared our hearts for worship in one of the greatest churches on the planet. Often I have felt the presence of God when hiking or when praying or at particular moments that I treasure. That moment was nigh. If God were to choose one place on earth to reside, it just might be at the Westminster Abbey in London.
The service was an Anglican service (no need to extrapolate on what Anglican means. It would take several paragraphs of church history and would only scratch the surface of knowledge.) replete with call and response, organ music, readings, prayers, communion, confession, a hymn, meditation, and peace. No praise and worship, no guitars, no drums, no microphones, no wires of any kind, no clapping, no swaying, no hugging, no inordinate human activity that would detract from attention to the Lord, no self. Simply a time to worship God in the old liturgical tradition.
Beautiful choral music lightly accompanied by the warmest sounding organ I have ever heard. Each ending of the phrase reverberated gently but completely throughout the cathedral, providing a sense of the infinite glory of God. It was a humbling but inspiring experience and one that I will want to replicate someday in some way. Of course it also causes me pause as I reflect on contemporary worship and how different it is where we live. But I shall not simply give lip service to my belief there are many ways to worship the Lord Our Savior. In spite of my commitment to this ideal, and I do believe it, I can also see where there is great personal joy in a liturgical Anglican service in a glorious structure designed to reflect the majesty of God.
More on this later. After the service and a nice lunch of lamb, squid, and cod, we headed back to the room for a few moments of rest. I then jumped on a bus, landed in Leicester Square, found the theatre, and experienced STOMP! Wow, what a great show. Tremendous athletes with amazing rhythm and timing. Just a super great show and quite captivating to everyone present. Following the show was a taping for a television show the next day, but I would not get to see it and am not sure my Americanisms wouldn't mess it up anyway! So I left and walked around to experience Leicester Square. Pretty crazy stuff at night. Almost like Bourbon Street in some ways.
Headed back and correctly navigated the tube this time. Home for the night but am now tremendously sore in every muscle. Hope it is a good night's rest. Tomorrow is the British Museum and being a part of the college classes. Time to learn how to teach in London!
No comments:
Post a Comment