Countryside and a Cathedral

I recently acquired a new set of wheels. No, I didn't trade in my Ford Focus for an Aston Martin and I didn't buy a new BMW motorcycle (yet). A friend from work offered to let me borrow his extra mountain bike. So after buying a few accessories (like a helmet), that friend and I took to the trails last Saturday for what I figured to be a couple hour ride. I had expressed interest in seeing some English countryside, and boy did we. At one point we found ourselves hoisting our bikes over farm gates and riding through a cow pasture, dodging both cows and other things you might find in a cow pasture (if you know what I mean). One flat tire and six hours later we finally made our way back to town. It was great fun.

Just yesterday that same friend, his wife and I hit the road for the city of Wells to visit the Wells Cathedral of the Church of England. Wells is a small city (classified as a city because it has a cathedral) some :45 south of Bristol. To start, the drive south offers some great views of the English countryside. The rolling hills are so green, broken apart by a patchwork of miles of hedgerows and dry stone walls (The size and shape of stones vary depending on what part of the country you're in. Here they tend to be smaller, thinner limestone). Never mind the breathtaking gardens that exist in England (and I'm not talking about your tomatoes in the backyard or roses in the front yard, but the acres of landscaping groomed and preserved by the UK's National Trust), even looking at the open countryside you get the idea the English take more pride in a well-groomed landscape. (Why is that? Maybe it's because they have less of it.) Once reaching Wells and parking the car we set out to find a cafe to have a proper, traditional English tea. What is a proper English tea you ask? Basically, it's an mid-late afternoon snack. But it's more than that. Our traditional English tea included hot tea and scones. A scone is a kind of sweet biscuit; some are plain, others have raisin-like fruit in them. You then spread cotter creme and jam on your scone and enjoy. It's quite good... a tradition I could get used to (but we Americans eat too far too much as it is). After tea we headed towards the cathedral. On the way we came across an open-street market being torn down after a morning of local commerce. I couldn't help but think how that same market has existed for 100's of years. When standing in the narrow streets of Wells it's not hard to imagine (like a scene out of Robin Hood). We finally made our way to the cathedral and WOW! It is huge and so ornate. There is so much detailed stone work it's overwhelming. From a design / aesthetic point of view I would say it's too much detail. When we walked in we were greeted by the beautiful sound of a choir singing. Turns out there was a service going on, but the place is so huge the service was going on in one end of he cathedral while visitors were free to come and go in the other end of the cathedral. Any attempt I might make to describe this place wouldn't do it justice, so I won't even try. Needless to say, it's an amazing, beautiful place (so much so I'm considering going back this coming week for a concert). But while there I couldn't help but notice how the building exuded a feeling contrary to what God is all about. We know God to be a loving, personal God. Hundred's of years ago when the average person didn't read, let alone own a Bible, this building would have only sent the message that God is distant and to be feared. It makes one wonder if, at that time, was the church more interested in the salvation of individuals or the control of the masses? From the looks of it... the control of the masses. (And that's exactly why King Henry VIII established the Church of England. He didn't establish it so that all his subjects would go to heaven. He did it to tell the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope the he was in charge.) Perhaps this is why so many people here are sceptical of religion.

Below are a few pictures of the memorable day...



I'm excited to see Indy ExPat's readership is growing. I would encourage each of you to continue sharing it with others whom you think might be interested, and making comments and asking questions on the posts. Not only is two-way dialog more fun, it gives me ideas for upcoming posts. And if you haven't already done so, subscribe to the blog by entering your email address in the field to the left.

Happy birthday to Mr. Ryan Kerns.

And on a side note... last week I signed a 2-year lease to rent my condo in Indy to what seems to be the perfect tenant. Not a big deal to most of you, but very exciting to me.

Till next time,
-Indy ExPat