OBU in London #27 - August 13 (Buckingham Palace)

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

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 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!

Monday, August 13 – Buckingham Palace!

Up this morning – 2^nd last class period.  After lunch most of the group headed off for a tour of the State Rooms at Buckingham Palace – the Queen’s official residence!  It was the walk, and security routine, to get in.  It started to rain a bit during our walk, and then the skies really opened up for about 10 minutes.  We waited out the rainstorm under the shelter of some massive trees, and still made it in plenty of time.

The Buckingham tour itself was very enlightening.  Most of the State Rooms were built or decorated in the past 200 years, and have beautiful carvings and wainscoting.  Very impressive, and also neat to get a glimpse into the reception areas and banquet halls used by the current royal family for state visits and functions.

We have seen a LOT of palaces during our time here.  Each one has been beautiful in its own way, reflective of the personalities and contexts of their builder/decorator royals.  It is a bit disconcerting to imagine all of the wealth that’s wrapped up in those palaces, and the way in which that wealth was accumulated and spread.  The majority of the wealth of the nation was tied up in the building of these palace and castles (and cathedrals).  The cathedrals, at least in theory, were constructed to the glory of God and for worship.  The castles (like Dover and the Tower of London) were built for some defensive purposes.  The palaces, however, were really constructed for posh, luxurious living – a show

of wealth and power, and unnecessarily extravagant comfort.  There’s nothing wrong with having a beautiful home and living in comfort.  And for royalty, I can understand a bit more extravagance.  But it seems that each generation of British royalty felt unsatisfied living in the already posh circumstances their predecessors had established.  They either built new wings on existing palaces, or built brand new palaces for their own generation.  I mean, even just the palaces that we visited – Kensington, Tower of London, Windsor, Buckingham, Hampton, Key – does one royal family really need all these?

On the other hand, that kind of extravagant wealth still exists today, and people use it in the same kinds of flamboyant ways – but it’s not royalty anymore: it’s entrepreneurs, actors, or sports figures.  Multi-million-dollar mansions in multiple countries, private jets, etc.  It’s just a bit disconcerting, especially Jesus’s words of warning about wealth and loyalty to God.  Tough business to consider.  But I guess there will always be poor uses of wealth, along with unethical means of acquiring it.  What can we do?  At least with the castles, we have ancient monuments, beautiful buildings that are now open to the public.  We can admire and appreciate the majesty, marvel at the architectural ingenuity and the decorating. 

After Buckingham, we walked back to Pickwick, had supper, and ran our final Colloquium.  The British mystery writers have been a blast to discuss with our students.  I think Chesterton has been my favorite – the Father Brown mysteries in particular.  Late night; off to bed.