A Pilgrim On Tour

   In Psalm 46:10, the English Standard Version reads:

“Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”

   Be Still and Know. Many times, even in places of worship, it is hard for us to be still and know. We are surrounded by God, yet the bustle and agendas of people get in the way. Our own thoughts betray our impatience to get on with life, and we refuse to be still, and so we do not know.

   The third morning of our trip, we were sitting at breakfast as our ship pulled into the Irish town of Cobh, our docking place for the city of Cork and its surrounding countryside. As I looked out the window, this scene filled the landscape:

   As was the case in so many of the places we visited, the town cathedral towered over the surrounding buildings, and my eyes were drawn to its lofty spires and dominance of position. I knew that was where I wanted to visit on this day.

   As I climbed the streets leading up to the church, I thought of all the people that had lived in that place over the years, even centuries, and had seen that building, had walked up to it and through its front doors, and sat down to worship and pray in its sanctuary. How many times had God spoken to individuals in those seats and at those altars? Was He still doing that today?

   In the churches of those cities and towns along our route, I had played the tourist, with my camera, taking those shots that would let me remember the majesty and grandeur of what people of the past had built. I had slipped inside and tried to get the flavor of what the peoples had witnessed over the many years.

   I had marveled at the colors of the stained glass and the stories that they told.

   I had looked at flickering candles and thought of the prayers that had been offered at those altars over the many years.

   I looked around the inside of those places of worship.

   But I wanted most of all, just to sit in those seats and think, not of just those people in the past who had sat there, but that God could still speak to people today in those same seats, maybe even me if I took the time to be still, even in the bustle of a tourist trip.

   So, at each stop, I found a seat and tried to do just that. I say tried, because I was not always successful in shutting out the things going on around me, but ofttimes I could feel that, not only had God spoken there in the past, but He could do it again to anyone who would take the time to be still and listen.

 

   I also found that others did the same, and that old building which had known so many pilgrims over the years, could also know a few more, even that day.

   A good day in the House of The Lord

   Amen

   Picture credits (from top to bottom of the post)
      Cobh Cathedral
      Glasgow Cathedral
      Chester Cathedral
      St. Patrick's at Dublin
      Bayeux Cathedral
      Chester Cathedral
      St. Magnus Cathedral at Kirkwall in Scotland