Tales from Canterbury - part IV

Thursday was a day of experiential learning; and it was a truly amazing experience.

A bus took us to London where we crossed the meridian in Greenwich (think Greenwich Mean Time) had a quick view of Saint Paul’s, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Buckingham Palace and the sights and sounds of this bustling city. Astounding to me in this city, with the energy and density of New York, there was not a single car horn to be heard. Perhaps English driver education teaches this, or perhaps there is a different ethos being exhibited.

Most of our day revolved around Lambeth Palace in London. This is the center of the Anglican Church. Here we ate lunch in the gardens, and toured the palace. The walls are lined with portraits of the succession of those who have served as Arch Bishop of Canterbury. These portraits tell the history of our Anglican Church.

Part of that history is the King James Bible, written in the common language - English. On display in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible is a first edition Bible. Respect for protocol means that I do not have a photo of this very important book, though its image will be with me forever.

We were also treated to an audience with the Arch Bishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. Arch Bishop Williams is warm and genuine. We received warm hospitality first in a discussion and then in afternoon tea. He is a servant leader in all the wonderful ways that we discussed earlier in the week. There is so much to pass along from our discussions but I will limit it to this one aspect. Part of our role, as Christians, is to look and listen. As reflected in the Gospel of John, Jesus tells us that he does what he see the Father doing. By looking and listening we can see what the Father is doing and do likewise. For the Arch Bishop this is best exemplified by faithfulness of prayer.

This was truly a day of experiential learning. We said Evening Prayer with the Arch Bishop in his private chapel in the crypt of Lambeth Palace. This holy space is where the Arch Bishop says Morning and Evening Prayer when he is in residence. This holy space has resonated with prayer for years and will continue to do so. This is part of how we look and listen.

We also look and listen by opening scripture and reading the Bible with the expectation of learning, with the expectation of being changed, and with the expectation of being converted. The Arch Bishop provided the reminder that none of us is the second person of the Holy Trinity so in our imperfection we must expect to always be converted.

Living as a Christian means living in community. As we look and listen we keep and build relationships in community. As we look and listen we can also build relationships beyond our Christian community. As we look and listen we keep and build our relationship with Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

As I reflect on this past day I am reminded that there were no car horns sounding in the busy city of London. I am also reminded that the Arch Bishop said to look and listen. He did not speak about talking, expressing yourself, or making yourself heard. Maybe the silence of the car horns says that all those thousands of drivers were looking and listening and did not need to be heard.

Peace and Blessings from Canterbury,