Day 4 Carb loading and Cathedrals

With sadness we said goodbye to Sarah and Nick. We need another Layson wedding to bring them back to Australia 🇦🇺.

A shortish drive to Salisbury Cathedral to check out one of the 4 remaining copies of the 1215 Magna Carta and a beautiful tribute to our Lord. 

Firstly, the Magna Carta. What a well preserved manuscript. Supposedly it was delivered to the Salisbury Castle in 1215 and been there ever since (except during WWI). We told the English tour guide that Australia has its own copy of the Magna Carta and she was not at all impressed and then told us hers was better coz it was the OG. I didn’t want to burst her bubble and tell her ours is better as it has a wax seal. She seems offended that someone from the colonies would have one. 

Mark, the Rev Dr will add some theological reflections as the end 👇

Then some English carb loading. Their food, even the pasties,  are so bread heavy. 

Then another short drive to Winchester. Yet another beautiful English town. (historical note it was the capital of England for a while and its other claim to fame is that Jane Austin is buried here after a stay of 2 weeks she died. Supposedly that is something worth celebrating that the place killed her.)

But more importantly is Gin #6, a “Crooked Nose” Gin at the Willow Tree Pub. The best place to be on a warm summers evening. 

And now from the Rev Dr 🧑‍⚕️ 🇬🇧⛪️

There is something profound about these old cathedrals. So much time and money has been poured into them in honour of God. I’m always struck by the vertical element of these places. Not quite trying to build up to God, but it the immense upper area fills us with a sense of smallness and even humility (if we will let it). Sadly, many of these places are more museum and curiosity rather than place of awe and worship. I’m not sure what to do with this paradox but am happy for it to unsettle me a little. The places strike you with a sense of the length of history behind The Faith. Christ is not a novelty, and should challenge the current desire for something new. Perhaps the ongoing presence of these cathedrals will remind us of something much bigger and older than any of us, the God of eternity who touches our smallness with grace and beauty in Christ!

Now to Gin #7 at another outdoor pub, Bishop on the Bridge called a Hendrix’s Neptunia. Not so flavoursome but worth a try.

For those not interested in gin, if you are truly out there- Mark has a Neckoil beer