Tuesday, June 3
THe last day. It’s sad to think about; nevertheless, we finished it with a bang. We first visited Bunhill Fields, the burial place for those protestant dissenters who stood against the Catholic Church. The graveyard houses such great reformers and writers as John Bunyan, Daniel Defoe, William Blake, and Suzannah Wesley. Bunhill Fields is also the place where Newton’s Amazing Grace was sung by others for the second time. Following tradition, we sang three stanzas of Newton’s masterpiece, and then we prayed for our class and for Dr. Grant. It was a sad yet joyous moment.
We then wended our way to the British Library, which contains an elevator system for the king’s books, a 4-storey Rubix cube of book shelves that shift around so as to be accessed from one point. The library also had on display a number of ancient manuscripts and books from all cultures, languages, and eras. I saw an ancient copy of Beowulf, a 14th-century Aeneid, some of Jane Austen’s letters from her childhood, the Gutenberg Bible, some napkins on which the Beatles wrote some of their lyrics, original music sheets of the works of Beethoven and Chopin, and many others.
Abbey Road was our next stop, where we attempted to take pictures of some of us walking where the Beatles walked. After lunch, we finished by visiting Harrod’s, the largest store I have ever seen–a mall in its own right.
I cannot express the sorrow I feel at leaving London, and more importantly, leaving my amazing senior class. Nonetheless, I cannot express the joy I feel knowing every one of these 25 warriors of Christ will make an impact wherever they may go. I could go on for pages on this topic, but know that I could not have asked for a better senior class, nor for a better place to end my high school education. So ends London, so ends the class of ’08–so begins the spreading of the Gospel. Amen.
~James C.
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- The tomb of Daniel Defoe (it was a large monument about ten feet tall)
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- The tomb of John Bunyan
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- The tomb of William Blake
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- Attempting the Beatles pose (Kate Madeira, Nathan Bourgeois, Elizabeth Alyn, and Kelsey Tichenor, left to right)
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- Abbey Road
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- Fans wrote all along the wall in front of the Beatles’ studio on Abbey Road
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- The tomb of Suzannah Wesley
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- Various tombs in Bunhill Fields
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
“Bunhill” literally means ‘trash heap,’ as such was its original state. These ‘rebellious’ reformers did not deserve a proper burial and funeral, so they were thrown in this trash heap (though it looks much better today).
Wow, my eyes are teary. I’m glad you had this amazing trip with Dr. Grant and your class.
Looks like it was a very, very worthwhile trip. I’m glad you got to go. Thanks for letting us know about it.
What a great opportunity. Who knows what God will do with everyone’s experience there? I am so glad you told us about it. You told your tale clearly and well. Thanks!
James, we thank God every day that you and Emily could get a great foundation in this school and that you could graduate from there.