Study Abroad in London

Sunday, July 15, 2007 What a beautiful day. It only rained once for about 5-10 min today, and was just enough to cool off. In Tennessee if it’d rained like that the air would’ve been stifling, and unbearable. This rain was refreshing and cooling. The temp wasn’t exactly hot, though. I understand songs about London in the summertime. It’s truly a blessed experience.
I was fortunate enough to visit St. Paul’s cathedral, and today’s setting was the Nelson Mass composed by Joseph Haydn. The hymns were sung by the St Paul’s Cathedral Choir with the City of London Sinfonia. To hear the bells as we entered was thrilling. I could imagine the throngs of people coming to worship throughout the years. I was able to sit under the dome that had provided service for generations of people since AD 604. As the choir’s voices rang through the four halls, the beauty of the soft echo rang throughout my ears. The City of London Sinfoia played beautifully and the music reverberated through the hall in glorious tones.
The message of Rev. Lucy Winkett was lasting. She spoke of video cameras, video games, and movies being full of things we would like to surround ourselves with, and of Tourists starting to film their experience before they have it. How we are becoming a nation of passive observers which makes us powerless to initiate change.

“Be the change you wish to see in the world” –Gandhi

She stated, “there’s a link between beauty & justice.” The question we should ask ourselves when we see a man dying on the road shouldn’t be “what will happen to me if I help the man” but “what will happen to the man if I don’t”

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