OBU in London #8 - July 25 (Westminster Abbey & The Globe)

Underground Cafe!

July 16 – August 14, 2018 – “The London 15” – OBU Student Abroad in London, England

Beautiful church - St. George?

This summer, I had the privilege of spending a month in England with a group of 15 students from Oklahoma Baptist University.   Dr. Lindsey Panxhi (an English faculty colleague) and myself, along with our respective spouses, conducted a faculty-led Study

Trafalgar Square!

Abroad that spent four weeks on the ground in London teaching OBU courses to OBU students while being immersed in the culture and history of Great Britain.  These are our stories! 

Wednesday, July 25 – Westminster Abbey, The Globe 

We swapped our morning and afternoon schedules again today.  Given the extreme heat, we moved our excursion (Westminster Abbey) to the afternoon.  That way we would be walking and touring before the heat kicked in.  Westminster opens to the public at 9:30, and was a 45-minute walk, so we left Pickwick at 8:45.  It was a lovely walk, and this time we did stumble across Trafalgar Square,  commemorating the English victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.  There is a nice pool and fountain, along with several statues of military heroes.  It was a good place for photos, so we stopped for a couple of minutes.

Westminster Abbey

From Trafalgar to Westminster, we were walking ever closer to the center of political power.  The buildings grow more imposing, the avenues

My favorite British Prime Minister: Winston Churchill

wider, with impressive statues lining the paths.  In addition to their excellent gardens, the Brits do monuments and squares very well!  

Westminster Abbey itself was massive, beautiful, impressive, and thought-provoking.

Private Cloister garden

MASSIVE – the building and grounds went on and on!  I explored just about every nook and cranny of the Abbey.  In addition to the main church (built in the medieval style – the shape of a cross as seen from above), there was a Chapter House, monastery precincts, cloister walks, and gardens. 

Cloister Gardens

BEAUTIFUL – the stained glass, sculpting, and artwork inside the Abbey were absolutely beautiful.  Tremendous thought and care was put into design, construction, and adornment.  I find medieval cathedrals to be very effective at drawing my attention and focus toward the Lord. 

Awesome gnarled tree!

IMPRESSIVE – on a worldly level, Westminster represents the intersection of Church with the nexus of English power.  The  Abbey is (most?) famous as the burial site of the rich and powerful and famous of British history – including

several monarchs, Prime Ministers (Churchill!), parliamentarians (Wilberforce!), writers, thinkers, scientists (Newton, Hawking), and various Lords and Ladies.  Some tombs have huge marble or stone sarcophagi and headstones; other people are buried beneath the Abbey floor. 

Chapter House entrance

(That reminds me of a fun but slightly terrifying story from the Tower of London … About 70 years ago they were doing renovations which required digging underneath some of the castle floors.  When pulling up the floor, the crews found the unmarked and unidentified remains of about 1500 people, who had apparently been summarily executed and buried without note!)

Chapter House

Chapter House ceiling

Chapter House 15th-century paintings

THOUGHT-PROVOKING – the Abbey makes me reflect on the relationship between church and state, or faith and the world.  Westminster is astounding in beauty and wealth, but so much of both was secured at the expense of compromise with the worldly powers often in opposition to the Gospel.  Was the cost worth it?  We have these stunning tributes to the glory of God and the beauty of a Christian worldview – but did friendship with the Crown sap the Church of its potential spiritual vitality?  When I read in Wilberforce the opposition faced from stubborn, entrenched, worldly, lukewarm Anglican leaders, I can’t help but wonder. 

Further, you have many buried in Westminster Abbey as a personal honor.  I agree with honoring the dead, regardless of their faith.  But is it appropriate for a Christian Church to so honor (and bury within its precincts) deists (Lord Herbert of Cherbury) and atheists (Bertrand Russell, Stephen Hawking)?  It just feels so wrong to give the enemy of Christ a place of prominent memorial honor within the house of God.

15th-Century Paintings on Chapter House walls

Finally, those buried within Westminster were all rich or powerful.  Where is the memorial testimony for the simple and faithful follower of Christ? 

Cloister Walk

My favorite part of Westminster Abbey was definitely the Chapter House – the primary meeting place of the monks who lived in the Abbey

Westminster from the Cloister Walk

beginning in the 13^th century.  The chapter house was empty when I first entered it, which allowed a sense of peace and sacred stillness.  The House was round, maybe 40 feet in diameter, with a high domed ceiling.  The original stained glass had been bombed out in WWII, but replaced with beautiful scenes.  The walls had been painted (floor to 10’ height) in mosaics from John’s writings (Gospel, Epistles, Revelation).  Some of the original 15^th-century paintings convey some of the power, and preserve the memory for me.  The Chapter House had the feel of a Holy Place.

Ancient private chapel in Westminster

More birds and ponds!

After the Abbey, we headed home.  Vanessa and four students took the bus; the rest of us walked – and we got back first!  Yay for London walking!  After lunch, classes.  We had a quick tortilla supper on disposable plates so that clean-up would be quick.  After supper we walked to The Globe (Shakespeare’s Theatre) for a showing of “As You Like It” – one of his fun comedies!  The evening was very warm and muggy, and the open-air theatre and the crush of people inside made it very hot. 

Shakespeare's Theatre - The Globe!

I wasn’t thrilled with the performance, either.  The vocal projection wasn’t great, and our sightlines were fairly obscured.  One of the lead characters was deaf, and signed all of her lines – which is really neat and inclusive, but compounded my inability to follow what was going on, especially with our obscured sightlines.  It got better (more comprehensible) after the intermission – when Lindsey more fully outlined the basic plot line – but all in all it was a bit of a let-down for me.  Alas!

After the play, we all walked back.  Vanessa and I took up the rear, and got left in the dust.  But that gave us opportunity to walk slowly and chat together.  We spent lots of time

The Globe - main stage

talking about our experience thus far, team dynamics, and such.  We feel tremendously blessed to have this opportunity, and are cherishing every day, even while I miss the kids! 

It was late when we returned.  Quick chat with the kids, and then off to bed.