Last full day here, and headed back tomorrow. To say I am thankful for these days in Britain would be a wild understatement. The personal times of prayer and reflection, the liturgy and hymns, the magnificent re-connect with the ancient via the stones of the cathedrals, churches, chapels, graves, and houses, the challenging lectures and warm fellowship, and the renewal of acquaintance with friends not seen for several years was refreshing and reviving. I saw things new and things old and trust that I will be able to keep them all in the treasure house of my heart for future distribution to all.
The pictures above are first of all, some of the iconography within St Albans; secondly, Chartwell, the family home of Sir Winston Churchill; and thirdly, Hever Castle, the home of Anne Boleyn, second wife to Henry VIII, and mother of Elizabeth I. Hever was one the new stops on this trip, and well worth the visit, especially to see the magnificent Holbein portraits. I had been Chartwell, but its been 20+ years since that visit, and so - since it is so close to Hever - I decided to stop in. Once again, the visit was rewarding. Toni knows that I always get very tearful around Churchill 'places' and memorabilia, and this visit was no different.
So this was a fascinating trip, encompassing century after century of history and finding once again that the residual anointing in the hidden bones of our Elishas from years gone by will yet prove vivifying for us if we will humble ourselves to listen afresh to their voices rather than succumbing to the modern noise that reduces them to echoes. Looking back over the past several days, here are some of the places I was able to go, some of the stones I heard speak. My only regret - doing it on my own.
1. Hever Castle, ancestral home to Anne Boleyn
2. Chartwell, family home to Churchill
3. St Alban's Cathedral with its remarkable ancient iconography and Shrine, the most ancient Christian worship site in England
4. Ely Cathedral with its amazing testimony in art, together with its astonishing Lady Chapel
5. The Jerusalem Chamber at Westminster Abbey
6. Close up with the tomb of Edward the Confessor, founder of the Abbey
7. Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge
8. King's College Chapel, Cambridge
9. Home of Oliver Cromwell
10. Duxford Air Field, home to the Flying Fortresses, Mustangs, and Spitfires still in use - and its incredible WW2 Battle of Britain museum
11. American WW2 Cemetery in Cambridge, honoring the dead and missing, especially the air crews, that perished in the effort to liberate Europe from the Nazis.
12. Visited All Souls, Langham Place, and was privileged to write a card of remembrance for John RW Stott.
13. Walked along a path that was once an Anglo-Saxon trade route from the Cambridge area down to the Thames. I recited some Anglo-Saxon lines as I strolled there.
Along the way, I went through beautiful villages, and fell in love with Hadon in Cambridgeshire (Thank you David and Diana!). I shopped at Daunts again, wandered around Hertfordshire for the first time - beautiful! - and felt incredibly blessed to enjoy some of my favorite food from this side of the ocean. I am deeply grateful for the generosity that enabled me to make this trip, and - honestly - can't wait to get back again soon. Thank you for the prayers offered by so many as well; I can't help but think that God has heard and answered you in ways "exceeding abundantly beyond all we can ask or imagine."
My only regret - doing it on my own. Next time...
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