With the lecture tour ending on a grand note, we headed into London to spend a couple of days seeing the sights before heading back home to America.
We were not disappointed.
London is a phenomenal city. The modern and the historical all wrapped up into one.
The richness and depth of its history were striking. Statues, palaces, castles, towers, bridges, cathedrals, museums (we didn’t go into any), cobblestone pathways, parks, gardens and more easily fill a visitor’s agenda of places to go and things to see.
If you know any of its history, Buckingham Palace, its gates, gardens and mall, is the kind of place that can stop you in your tracks. The immensity of the palace arrests your attention and can leave you a bit awed trying to make sense of it all. If standing very close, the eye cannot take it all in. You have to back way up to see it all at once, it’s so huge…
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| Evan staring at Buckingham Palace |
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| Buckingham Palace |
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| Kathy in garden |
Westminster Abbey was high on my must-see list. But I must say, it wasn’t what I expected.
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| Westminster Abbey |
It was in impressive cathedral, no doubt. The architecture, outside and inside, was world-class, and jaw-dropping in many cases. But what left the greatest impression on me from my tour, was the contents of the building. It is a cemetery in gilded stone.
I’ve always known that cathedrals housed dead people, but this grave-yard aspect was never as apparent as this time.
It costs 16 pounds sterling (about $25) to gain admission to the Abbey and see the inside. The entrance was on the side of the building, near the altar.
When you enter, the first visuals you notice are countless memorials to dead royalty and noblemen. Every space on the walls is filled with memorials, and then you quickly stumble upon coffins of dead royalty. Not just one or two or three, but several, too many to count. They were everywhere, all around the altar. And then there were add-on side rooms built to house even more dead royalty that couldn’t fit into the original edifice.
I was experiencing a spiritual disconnect.
The audio recording I listened to for a self-tour had an introduction that asked visitors to consider the significance of Jesus Christ and what he taught as they visited the grounds. But immediately, the senses are assaulted by coffins and evidence of material death everywhere. It was quite a contrast to Jesus’ message of seeking and finding eternal life in Spirit.
From the Nave, where worshippers sit, the coffins are not visible. The walls surrounding the stunning altar are hiding coffin upon coffin upon coffin. As I sat silent and soaked in the contrast between what was visible and what was not visible, I began to wonder what motivated the benefactors who financed the construction of the monument in the first place.
Was this truly church? I was pondering. Was it built to glorify the divine Ego, or to prop up the human ego? It reminded me of the Pharaohs in Egypt who built monstrous pyramids to house their dead mortal bodies. It gave new meaning to Jesus’ used of the phrase, “…whited sepulchres…” Hmmmm…just some points to consider…
Pictures were not allowed, so I have none to share. Sorry about that.
After exiting the Abbey, we trekked over to see the world famous clock—Big Ben. A favorite attraction in the city of London!
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| Big Ben |
Hi Evan – I’ve enjoyed your comments as you’ve travelled through the UK – and perhaps your comments today about Westminster Abbey are the most sobering – isn’t this the thing that sets Christian Science apart from other modes of thinking ? – we don’t ‘worship’ death – this week’s Lesson Sermon certainly brings out the unreality of ‘this triad of errors’ (sin, sickness and death) and to me it’s such a freeing idea that in reality there is no death … thanks too for your lectures on line ( listen to them often !!) and all the other ways in which you share your insights with the world – lol
Hi Evan, I live here in the UK and have also visited Westminster and like you, was a bit taken aback by the slabs commemorating dead people. Having been brought up in Christian Science I found it very odd and not uplifting and a strange custom. Also with there being so many people going in and out, it was not very respectful. But again, it made me so grateful for the quiet we have in our services and as you say, the focus is certainly on Life, Truth and Love. Thank you for the ‘travelogue’.
Hi Evan,
WOWEE! Thank you so much for the colorful photos and your exuberant descriptions of beautiful London. I loved the way you said you had a “spiritual disconnect” from all the memorials of death. Yes! We have a spiritual connection to eternal Life! and Church built on that Rock of Truth sustains everyone. I love your brilliant missionary work abroad and your way of helping us to ponder the deeper ways of God as you travel about the world. Thanks!
I know exactly how you feel. We were in Westminster Abbey several years ago and the dead body thing can be pretty overwhelming. Sort of like the field of dry bones that Ezekiel saw. It reminds me of the time I was in the Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. and after an hour or two of being fascinated with all the dinosaur stuff, it finally hit me I was looking at a bunch of DEAD BONES. I was just overwhelmed with the sense that everything was material and would eventually die. I asked God what He thought about all the stuff I was looking at. The answer came swiftly, “That’s not the way I made them.” I laughed so hard. I was healed of any sense of depressing thought about things being dead or material.
I’m not advocating burying people in churches, but what are the spiritual insights to be gained? My daughter, who loves Elizabeth I, noticed that her “final resting place” was right next to one of the people who had been a rival. Something to think about. There was some very moving quote near the spot and I was very moved at the time.
I was also moved by some tomb of an unknown soldier. I felt the love and gratitude that it was supposed to express.
Basically, you have people trying to honor the good that others have accomplished in their time on earth. Think of all the good that those individuals encrypted in Westminster Abbye contributed to the world. That is what I finally came away with. I would not honor them in the same way in my church edifice, but I have to think of all the good that is represented. All that good is still present and I am grateful for it.
Thanks Evan. Many years ago I lived in England and have been back twice. I saw most of the cathedrals and loved them for their architecture (Salisbury cathedral being my favorite); somehow it was easy for me to see/feel the disconnect between the religion of “yesteryear” and the beautiful unveiling that Mrs. Eddy brought to us.
We learn from history, and perhaps this was Christianity’s highest sense of right at the time. The cathedrals were to honor God, but as you noted, dwelling on the dead, seems to honor death more than God.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention and helping to reaffirm the Truth that we have to share…and of course thanks for sharing it in your lectures and through this blog!!