A few days in London…

I have been in London since this past Saturday morning taking some classes toward my Master’s Degree (9 credits actually), and I have a few observations to share about myself, this city, this group I’m with, and then some miscellaneous.

1. My ankles click a lot when I walk. Normally this isn’t a big deal, but when you are spending a lot of time in museums, old cathedrals, and libraries the clicking is a little embarrassing. I would say they click on average every 1.5 steps. Especially the right one. The bizarre thing is that now that I’m thinking about it, I can actually hear it when I am walking in crowded noisy places. Somehow I can just hear it – like my ankle is on speakerphone.

2. When there is a lack of strong leadership, time is wasted. We have nice leaders. They are all teachers at Southern Seminary, all very educated with their doctorates. Each has a combination of wit and approachability which is actually quite refreshing in the ivory towers of academia. However, each of them defers to the other and to the group for big decisions. Instead of making a command decision and letting us deal with it, they ask for a show of hands for how many want to do something, how many don’t want to do something, and even for who is unsure. Rather than say “We are leaving at 2pm for Wimbledon, if you want to come be there early.” The semi-democratic / consensus method is used which ends up costing us 15 minutes.

3. America is quite young. While looking for houses in Michigan a few years ago, Ange and I were debating if a house built in the 1950’s but fully renovated in 2004 was too old. Today I attended a worship service at Westminster Abbey, which has been standing for nearly 1400 years. Which is of course, peanuts compared to Middle Eastern historical sites, but that was a different trip for me with a leader who had no problems asserting authority.

4. There is no separation of Church and State here. I suppose I had always taken that for granted in America, but here a Bishop has a seat in the House of Lords in Parliament. I couldn’t even get on a city committee in Rochester Hills.

5. God is moving here. Contrary to widespread reports that the UK is dead spiritually, there is much life here. Churches are growing, people are coming to Christ, and the tough times have driven many in the UK to God. I spent Sunday morning at Hillsong London and was absolutely amazed at how many: people attend weekly (8000), volunteers it takes to make church happen (950 per Sunday), and nationalities are involved in the life of the church (dozens). As we sang together, I looked around and saw Asians, Indians, South Africans, whites, blacks, and others worshipping God with one voice. It was beautiful and inspiring.

6. London is hot in the summer. People keep telling me that I’m crazy, that London has a similar climate to Seattle, but my experience has it more in the Miami neighborhood. It has been 85 – 95 degrees here each day since we’ve arrived. I have been sweating since I stepped off the plane in Heathrow and even as I write this late at night, my room is still smokin’ hot. Did I mention that air conditioning and lots of ice in drinks is an American thing? I was in London one other time, for two weeks in the summer of 2003, which as it turns out, was the last heatwave that was this bad. I rest my case.

7. The British are quite kind and friendly. I don’t mess around if I’m lost, I’ll ask the first person that I see to help me get to my destination. In America, this tactic has been met with some less than cordial responses, but here I have experienced genuine kindness and sympathy to my plight. Also, we were in Hyde Park (as the Dave Matthews concert was happening) looking to engage people in conversations about God (one of my courses is Personal Evangelism). There was such an openness and honesty with the British people that we encountered that we were really surprised. I expected some of the same hostility that this drive-by shooting approach to evanglism can provide, but they were genuinely engaging us.

8. I really miss my wife. I am not really sure who I am when she isn’t with me. I try to introduce myself to others on the trip, but they are only getting half the story – and it isn’t even the best half! I find myself thinking about Angela all the time, at meals, on trains, in museums… Something has happened to me, I used to be pretty independent and have a strong individual identity. But now, I don’t even WANT people to know me apart from my wife. It is such an untrue picture of my life to just see me in it. Video iChat is great, but it isn’t the same. I miss her so much. What a gift she is to me.

9. I fell down today. It was a little embarrassing. I twisted the ankle that doesn’t click as much. It was right in front of a huge gathering of businessman standing outside the pub we were heading towards for dinner. I stepped off a curb not knowing it was there and actually went down to the ground. It has been a long time since I actually tripped and fell down. My ankles already look weird and puffy but I think they are getting puffier. I may need to take a day off tomorrow to rest my ankles.

See you soon…

Cliff