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| St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel |
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!
Saturday, July
21, 2018 – The British Library!
Breakfast at 8:30.
We adjusted class times to fit Pickwick’s weekend breakfast schedule
(8:30-10:30). Lindsey taught 8:45-10:30,
I went 10:45-12:30. Lunch from
12:30-1:30. Vanessa and Arsid discovered
a delightful new grocery store, Lidl, with more variety, cheaper meats, and
better cheese selection and price than our local neighborhood Sainsbury’s. They were quite pleased with themselves, and
so were the rest of us, because we had sausage and Brie for lunch!
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| King's Cross Station - The Potter Platform |
After lunch we walked to the British Library to
explore their “Treasures Room” – a collection of rare and valuable books and
manuscripts that also have a story to tell.
Vanessa stayed behind – she was fairly worn out, and wanted to
rest. Plus, they were doing chicken and
rice for supper, and she wanted to get the chicken boiling before we would have
returned.
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| The London 15 @ The British Library |
The Library treasures had several categories (Science,
Maps, Music, Marx, Literature, the Beatles) – but by far the most interesting
to me was their collection of sacred texts, particularly their Christian
manuscripts. They have an original
Tyndale English Bible, plus a Wycliffe translation – priceless! They also had numerous medieval illuminated
manuscripts – huge-volume Bibles, Psalters, and missals with intricate illustrations
and designs. Medieval Christian books
were not just functional representations of God’s Word – they were magnificent
works of art, the culmination of hundreds of hours of time and creativity.
Most spine-tingling … the Codex Sinaiticus – one of
only 3 complete 4th-century New Testaments still preserved. To see it in front of my own eyes!!!!! Wow!
Again, the size of the book
was imposing, and is a reminder of the dedication it took to preserve the Word
of God in the early centuries after Christ.
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| St. Pancras International Train Station |
The rest of the Treasures Room was incredible … one
humorous joy was Jane Austen’s hand-written journals, including a history of
the British monarchy she wrote for her younger sister in her teens. Absolutely hilarious!
There are numerous additional floors in the British
Library, but visitors are not permitted!
You need a “reader’s card,” noting that you are a credentialed scholar
with need to access the library’s vast holdings – which extend to EIGHT
subterranean floors. At times like this,
I realize that I’m not a real (world-class) scholar – more of a dabbler. There is so much that I’ve not read or
explored – so many avenues I’ve not pursued.
Supper was fantastic.
Colloquium was in the park up the street – a good bit cooler than
Pickwick’s lounge, especially after cooking in the adjacent kitchen! Early to bed again tonight – the team talked
me and Lindsey into doing a group English breakfast at a local café in the
morning. So it will be an earlier start.
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| OBU Faculty Leaders: Arsid & Lindsey Panxhi, Tawa & Vanessa Anderson; in front of Pickwick Hall |
This time away from the kids is hard for me. I feel like they won’t remember us by the
time we get home! I miss them, and feel
guilty about being gone so long. Keilani
hasn’t been feeling well since we left, so I feel bad on that account too. Lord, I pray You would sustain and encourage
them – remind Mataeo, Alethea, and Keilani of how dearly they are loved and
missed.
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