If you ever want a peaceful, super place to stay in a countryside setting in the Cheshire/Nantwich region, I highly recommend The Old Pump House Bed and Breakfast! Kathy and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay there with a very gracious hostess, an idyllic setting surrounded by pastures and sheep, and good food!
Here’s the back yard pond…quite a pleasant environ to sit in a chair, soak in the sun (yes there was sun!) and think on higher things.
After a successful lecture in Chester, we headed to Stratford-on-Avon, which was a 2 hour drive. But we took the scenic route through Broadway, which is a beautiful little village nestled in the Cotwolds. We just loved the warmth of the honey-colored limestone cottages and buildings that were everywhere we looked and the tranquil colorful landscaping along the way.
In Broadway
Main Street in Broadway with a multitude of little
shops and cafes up and down the sidewalks.
A frequent scene along the way…
After a leisurely drive through country villages and countless sheep pastures, we finally arrived in Stratford-on-Avon, home of Shakespeare.
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| Shakespeare’s birthplace, Around 1600, and still standing strong! |
I spoke at a very successful lecture event that evening in the Caffe Nero, located on one of the busiest retail streets in town. Although, the retail district shuts down around 5:30 p.m., we had a terrific turn-out with many enthusiastic seekers for Truth who eagerly soaked in the ideas that were shared that evening.
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| Front part of Caffe Nero in Stratford |
The above picture is the front part of the Caffe. There is a much larger seating area in the back half where most of the people sat, and I stood in the middle of the Caffe speaking to my right and to my left.
What struck me this evening, aside from many other good reports afterward, was comments made to me by one of the newcomers. She related that she had read a bit of Science and Health in the past, but did not understand it. She simply could not get into Eddy’s message at all. She gave up trying to read it. But she said, “After hearing this lecture tonight, I must sit down and start reading that book and keep reading it until I get it!” And she was serious.
She had glimpsed enough of the promise and healing power of Christian Science that night to know that there was something very important in its teachings that she needed to gain in her life. And even though it had seemed impossible in the past to figure out what that truth was, she was going to redouble her efforts and figure it out no matter what it took. She felt an imperative to “get to the bottom of it!”
I was very heartened by her determination. It helped me understand better what it is going to take by the Christian Science movement to shake the bulk of humanity out of it’s mesmerized materialistic point of view.
I concluded long ago that when people say, “I can’t understand Science and Health,” the book Science and Health is not the problem. The book is easy to understand. It’s the point of view one reads the page with that makes the words either easy or difficult to grasp.
If one reads Science and Health through the eyes of a matter-based view of the world, the ideas look incomprehensible. Why? Because they are all about Spirit. A matter-based reasoning and Spirit-based reasoning are opposite mental standpoints.
But when one reads the book through spiritual sense, the ideas jump off the page in bold relief and awe thought to incredibly high spiritual and enlightened places.
From a lecturer’s point of view, it can be disheartening to speak to audiences, on occasion, that “don’t get it.” How does one break through the “I don’t get it?” aspect of the human mind, is a constant question to answer. And the answer was in the above woman’s words. Provide proof and evidence from your own life experience of the effectiveness of Christian Science, and the matter-based reason will take notice. It will see that what Christian Science has to offer is far better than anything materialism can even promise. It will turn from it’s error and seek the truth, even if it means struggle to get there.
My on-going prayer…to keep increasing my own demonstration of Truth and help others see its value too…
Very helpful!
I always wondered why sometimes the words in S & H jump off the page and light a fire under me and other times it’s like staring at a brick wall.
It’s the point of view I’M reading it from. (I probably knew that-just hadn’t put it into words).
Very cool! Good litmus test for checking how one is thinking.
Love all the pics and stories. Glad you are going to share more.
I, too, loved all the pictures and stories you shared as you went around England. Thank you for sharing your light and your joy throughout the world. We can feel it.
Evan, Thanks for sharing the insights you get from your lecture tours. They are very helpful. I appreciate beyond words your comment that you got a sense of what we need to do to help wake mankind to see that Science and Health is easily understood. We are not just supposed to be working out our own problems. We must also live for all mankind.
Excellent points on the language of Spirit in S&H. I’ve heard some use the excuse that the older language in S&H is hard to comprehend, but they don’t say that about Shakespeare.
Thanks for the pics and insightful comments!
Thank you anonymous commenter about the language in S&H not being more difficult to understand than Shakespeare. I will use that when I hear that come up next time.
Thank you, Evan, for the wonderful lecture reports and the photos. Glad you had some sun and fun on the trip.
Thanks, Evan, for these wonderful insights and for sharing them broadly for all of us to glean the spiritual lessons they teach. Loved my visit to Stratford-Upon-Avon several years ago. Shakespeare’s home town … did you happen to note MBE’s quote of Shakespeare in the front of S&H to the audience? Goes along with your insight about perspective!