I have had the most terrific week with my aunt and uncle in London. We followed my family motto, which is, “Do the most stuff, in the least amount of time.” While on the London Eye you can see two amazing church buildings, St. Paul’s Cathedral and Westminster Abby. A few things struck me funny at the time but after processing a bit I feel a little better about them. Here are some random reflections.
1. The buildings were lavishly beautiful.
- On the one hand, they truly do testify to the greatness and supremeness of God by their beauty and quality.
- On the other hand, there is a sense of waste. The money could have been used for other things.
- Jesus says, ‘The poor you will always have with me.’ And says the woman who poured the very expensive perfume on his feet did a beautiful thing.
- Solomon and David spared no expense on the temple and its treasuries.
2. You had to pay to go into the churches. (Westminster £10; St. Paul’s £9)
- At first it seemed odd to pay money to go into a church.
- Apparently the money went for ‘upkeep.’
- They aren’t charging people to worship just to visit when the church would normally be closed…
- I doubt that the worshipping congregations would be able to finance the upkeep for their buildings and would need to sell, and yet this allows them to stay open and worship is such a beautiful place.
3. Hourly 'Lords Prayer' at St. Paul’s.
- One thing that did strike me about St. Paul’s was the prayerful ambiance.
- Every hour a pastor led the visitors in a moment of silent prayer, saying the ‘Lords Prayer,’ and then was available for answering questions about Christianity and Spirituality. I really liked this…
4. No photography out of respect for a place of worship.
- On the one hand, getting your picture taken while praying could be distracting.
- On the other hand, people are paying £9-£10 to get in and then if they want any pictures they have to buy them??? Hmmm, that sounds like…
Overall, I still don’t know what I think yet, what do you think?
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