In my Vans

We walked ALL day today. Literally.

9:00-Walk downstairs to breakfast.
9:40-12:30-Walk through Cabinet War Rooms
12:30-1:00-Walk to find Lunch (and see Big Ben!)
1:30-4:00-Walk through Imperial War Museum
4:00-4:45-Walk to Westminster Abbey for Evensong
5:45-6:15-Walk to Cha Cha Moon restaurant
7:15-9:00-Walk around downtown, through Tube Tunnels, stand on Tube
9:10-11:00-Walk to Tower Bridge, London Bridge, and back the the hotel.

The Thames, Me, and Parliament. Note that Sherlock Holmes jumps out of one of those windows of the Parliament building into the Thames, so that's pretty cool. 

Yeah. Me and my Vans shoes did that. All three of us hurt but it was worth it.

Besides being a pretty low-key, museum go-as-you-wish day, the highlight was going to Evensong at Westminster Abbey. Every day at 5 pm the Abbey has a worship service of about 45 minutes. The 5 girls I went with and I felt very exclusive when the Abbey people turned away people who wanted to tour the Abbey but let us in to attend the service.

I was struck by the immensity and the beauty inside.

The ceilings soar in high stone arches, columns line the hall, stone statues of every famous man in the last 3 centuries cluttered every corner and gold accents in surprising places glint in the soft light. Quietly, we were led through a gate into the nave and were seated. Behind the gate the decoration of the alter was incredible. Gold was everywhere, painted on the seats for the choir, on the alter, on the decorative carvings, the little stars on the ceilings, incredible. Ornate. Then the service started, and our voices echoed throughout the cathedral as we prayed and the choir sang the Magnificat. It was a place of strength and of beauty; I'm thankful I was able to be a part of it.

Now that we're beginning to settle in to the newness and the traveling, I am beginning to wonder what my role is here. As a comm major I can't help but ask: how do people see me? How do they think I see them? What do I need to cultivate? What do I need to change? I'm also wondering where I'm going to find my "worth" here. Today, people got really excited about something another girl does and were asking her about it, giving her great attention. I can do the same thing and I wanted everyone to value me as they did her, but it was too late to say, "hey guys, hey! I can do that too! Me! Me!" I was kind of frustrated at first, but really, is it that important? We are all trying to find our place in the group on this trip, and I know we are each equally vital to the group dynamic. It's something to think about but it is also tempting to devalue myself. Why? I don't know. But I'm not going to! Woot!

 I haven't set aside time to sit and spend time with God and that needs to happen. We've had some brief interaction, while we walk or right before I go to bed, but that doesn't count. Without him my life goes to pieces, and I need all my pieces here!

Tomorrow we have class and then what? I'm not sure. But our group leaders are taking my fellow chaplains and I to Pizza Express for lunch tomorrow and I'm excited to get to know them better. :)