4 May 2005 - London, England - a pause for one man ...

Today, my cousin Davina took my mum and I on our first jaunt out to Central England. (We are currently staying in Middlesex with them). The tube is very impressive first of all. It is incredibly clean, and secondly, very precise. I am struck by how easy it is to ride their subways!

The weather is typical London fare - dreary, overcast and cold. The chill that rolls over the River Thames and onto Central London has been slightly biting and I find myself pulling my jacket over my shoulders. In a word, in Michelle's world, it is lovely. I find myself in a more pensive state of mind.

We saw Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and Big Ben. None were incredibly impressive to me on the outside. I think I have a snobbery or a rebellion towards the importance of England. I really shouldn't! It would make me less open minded. Indeed I found myself impressed by Westminster Abbey.

In WA (I don't mean Washington), alot of dignitaries are either buried there or memorialized there. In fact, everyone who has been crowned has been coronated there in WA. You can google all you want about WA, but like anything pictures and info don't do it justice. You should see it for yourself. It epitomizes grandeur - its usage of space, the way air caresses the buildings, the way sound echoes through the walls, the intricate work done by hands themselves, not machines. We're talking 1066, here, people.

All this, yet the building's Gothic style didn't arrest me. Again, I found myself prohibited to really experience its magnificence - I felt it futile to marvel at the tombs and graves of supposedly pious kings, queens and nobles, purported to be faithful, spiritual beings during their life time, just cos someone decided to engrave it for posterity's sake on a tablet of stone. So what? Here lies so and so, and there they were, a fixture of their very selves laying on their backs, palms pressed together for eternity, eyes open looking heavenward.

I was quite detached until a very humbling moment occurred: On the hour, every hour, a deacon requests a moment of silence for prayer. He said, paraphrasing: You are invited to pause for a moment to pray. This building was never intended to commemorate, in its original intention, all the beautiful memorials you see before you now. It was designed to commemorate one man, the Saviour of the world - Jesus Christ.

He then said a prayer, during which I felt peace. Things felt right, finally. And the rest of the tour was better.

I do wish however that there was a tablet up for Christ the king. Sometimes when we go to church we forget what that building was there for the first place. Its for God, not for our paintings or sculptures. It is a place where we can seek Him!

More adventures later! London = clean, dreary, lovely, understandable, and i love the old people here. good stuff! oh, also very expensive!! i mean, VERY. today - a hot chocolate, a mocha, some tea at a cafe was 12 bucks. god save the queen.