Arrival

Friday, 11pm, Northampton, England

We arrived at Heathrow Airport safe & sound at 12:5o local time. For those of you keeping track at home, we are six hours ahead of central daylight time. The flight was 9 hours long and uneventful- unless you count attempting to sleep sitting upright and adjusting to the time change along the way. That being said, all luggage and people arrived well. For that we are all grateful.

From Heathrow we went to Woburn Abbey (http://www.woburn.co.uk/abbey/) which is near Northampton, arriving a bit later than planned. Woburn is an 18th century estate build on the ruins of a Cistercian Abbey. The Abbey was disbanded and destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monastaries under Henry VIII. Since 1574 the Abbey lands have been the home of the dukes of Bedford.

The estate is beautiful and awe-inspiring in its grandeur. Countless works of art and valuables line the halls and rooms of this amazing estate. Our tour was self-directed and very flexible. Most of us had time for some tea and biscuits in the tea room on the grounds. For me the beauty of the estate and grounds is juxtaposed with the knowledge that this sacred ground had been brutally wrested from a religious community by a king hungry for power, wealth and religious influence. This same king many credit with creating the environment necessary for the English Reformation- a reformation that birthed the church we know and love today. Cross and crown are never tidy bedfellows.

Now we are settled into the hotels in Northampton. I am with the Youth Choir in the Holiday Inn and the Parish Choir are in the Marriott nearby.

The transforming power of this pilgrimage is already present in our group. Through the crucible of small seats on a crowded plane, extended hours without the proper rest and arrival in a strange new land inhabited by people with strange accents, traveling on crowded highways, the group has begun to take on the character of a faith community. Like travelers, pilgrims, before us we have found that the journey is as important as the goal.

Friends become deeper friends-new insights are gained into people we thought we already knew so well. Acquaintances become friends- conversations lead to deep understanding and new connections beyond the Sunday morning handshake relationships. These are the beginnings of the fruits of this journey...and there will be many more to come. The journey has become the destination.

- Jonathan, traveling with the Youth Choir