“Have miracles ceased? I say unto you, NAY.” (18 July)

Brace yourself. This was a great day. It may have been so good because I started it with a walk through Kensington Park, where I saw a statue of Peter Pan and thought happy thoughts. I think I’ll show my gratitude by discussing my day with a miracle-paradigm:

1.       The first miracle—and this is a true miracle—is that I woke up feeling well. I could breathe out of both nostrils, even while lying down. Yesterday Dr. Anderson gave me a priesthood blessing upon my request. He particularly blessed me that as I rested, my body would heal from the fever and all other symptoms on that very day (Sunday). With the same power by which Christ healed people, I was being healed. And today the only symptoms I had were the signs of healing: the coughing up phlegm, making my throat very dry so I can’t stop coughing (I call them coughing attacks, for future reference). Anyway, that was a true miracle.

2.       The second miracle is the Bible. Today in my “History of the English Language” class, we discussed the importance of the Bible in preserving English and helping the language progress. I read about Wycliffe and Tyndale before class and was completely amazed by these men who dedicated their lives (to the death!) to help Englishmen read accurately translated versions of the Bible in their own tongue. Their work brought the words of God to the people and helped the English language penetrate even deeper into society.

3.       The third miracle is that I basically was in heaven for a few hours at the British Library. HOLY COW. So, Delys (my former professor and boss) had insisted that I make time to go there because there are things that ELang majors MUST see. I don’t know how to express the awesomeness of what I saw, so maybe I’ll just try listing some of the items (we couldn’t take pictures, so I wrote down many of the things): *1410 Canterbury Tales, handwritten notes by Milton, stuff by Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte’s handwritten Jane Eyre, *Handel’s “Messiah,” handwritten scores by Mozart, Beethoven, and Schubert, *Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March,” Shakespeare’s original folios, ancient maps, ***three pages from da Vinci’s notebooks (if you don’t know, I love da Vinci), *Aesop Fables printed by Caxton at Westminster, *works by Aldus Manutius, ***complete Gutenberg Bible, works by Fust and Schoeffer (they ripped off of Gutenberg. Dr. Skousen thinks low of them), Islam texts, Judaism texts, Geneva Bible, *1611 KJV Bible, Lindisfarne Gospels (from about 700 ad—the earliest complete copies of the Gospels), fragments of the earliest known Bible manuscripts, and ***two copies of the Magna Carta (there are only four surviving). Okay okay . . . you might think that I just listed every display I saw in that room, but I didn’t! I think I’ll go back and put asterisks by the things that I loved the very very most, just to add some depth. I took a bit longer than the other two people I was with. They were waiting for me on a bench and when I rejoined them, I was nearly crying—partly because I was trying to suppress an oncoming coughing attack and partly because I was SO HAPPY. You might be thinking: NERD. Well, it’s true! I am (and proud of it). But here’s the thing: I took a class called History of the Book and I loved it. I had to buy three textbooks for it, and these text books all contained descriptions of and photos of the very things I was seeing! Chaucer, Gutenberg, Caxton, Manutius . . . these people were so important in language and printing. It’s because of that class that I can look at Shakespeare’s folios and think, “those are great words, but the printing is sloppy. Embarrassing.” And I can just hear Dr. Skousen rebuking those year-1500 printers: “what an abomination!” he’d say gruffly. Aaaaaanyway, I know I’ve carried on too long. But that, my friends, is the beauty of miracle #3.

Trying to look studious outside of the British Library

After numbers 1, 2, and 3, the day just couldn’t keep getting better. It plateaued at the British Museum. Remember how Britain used to own most of the world? Well, she accumulated some pretty awesome things during the process. Basically, the British Museum is a bunch of other countries’ cool things. I saw the Rosetta Stone—the real deal! And I viewed many ancient artifacts and ruins—reliefs, mummies (including Cleopatra herself), statues, etc. It was a throwback to my time in Egypt, but the museum was much more organized than the Cairo Museum. I also saw some pretty awesome eskimo parkas that were sown from animal intestines. They were totally transparent, but apparently were very warm. The eskimos learned to sew without completely puncturing the material so nothing—air or moisture—could leak in or out.

Outside the British Museum. Don't be fooled--this is a fake Parthenon.

Animal-intestine parka. Don't ask me why--of all the things I saw--this fascinated me enough to photograph it

Some statues from the Parthenon. I just thought this was a cool picture because it's the only one I could get without people in it.

I again saw my favorite Egyptian hieroglyph: the ankh, symbol of eternal life

The highlight of the museum was the Parthenon. I must admit that I’ve always wanted to go to the Acropolis and see the Parthenon myself. But remember how much of the Parthenon has fallen and is in rubble on the hillside? Well, the British took the rubble. They have a most of the reliefs that bordered the top. I’m glad I got to see it (since I’m not going to Greece for my birthday this fall, family). Remember, friends, writing a thesis-driven paper is like building a Parthenon. And now I’ve seen some of what the Parthenon actually looks like.

After that, we trudged around in the rain a bit, bought a few groceries, and returned home. It was a successful day. We saw lots of London by foot, often opting for the open-air routes than the underground tube. I feel like a more complete person, both because I’m feeling better and because I went to the British Library. And because now you all know something more about what makes me really excited.

Oh yeah--and my visit to King's Cross didn't even make the miracle list. And check it out! My trolly is going through Platform 9 3/4!

We found Gandhi as we were walking around town. Good man, Gandhi.