Quakers, Mormons, and Anglicans (24 July)

Today has been busy and very fun.

Lori and I went to a Quaker meeting at 11:00. It was a really neat experience and great preparation to go to our Sacrament Meeting at 1. Quaker meetings consist of an hour of silence. Sometimes the silence is broken when one member of the group (they call themselves “friends”) wants to read a scripture or share an experience or thought. But it is mostly silent. It’s really neat because they put the responsibility on the individual to get something out of the meeting. If you don’t think or feel anything, you’re not trying hard enough. At the end you shake hands with the people around you. Everyone there was so kind. It was neat to see how they all really cared for each other and for others in the world. Today especially they mentioned their brothers and sisters in Norway a lot.

There is a lot to be said of silence. I think highly of anyone that can sit in silence for and hour and find it an enjoyable learning experience. Okay okay, I guess I think pretty highly of myself then . . . because I really enjoyed it and I did learn a lot. We need to take more time to think.

We took the metro to our church meetings, which were also lovely. Do you want to know something absolutely bizarre? Yes. Okay. I got to church and thought, “hmmm . . . that man on the stand looks like my American Heritage TA, Matt.” I look in the program and, sure enough, it WAS! He and his wife were speaking because it was their last Sunday in the Hyde Park Ward. I talked to him afterward. Man . . . I took AH in 2006. And I still remember my TA’s first and last name, major, and hometown. Am I a creeper? I didn’t tell him I remembered all those things.

Then Lori and I rushed back to the metro and headed to St. Paul’s Cathedral. There we went to a free organ recital. It was amazing!!! The organ was so powerful. It was also nice to get into the cathedral for free because it’s normally very expensive. I loved the mosaics on the ceilings. The colors were beautiful and they included some gold tiles that made it just beautiful.

The front of St. Paul's. It's a lot bigger than this, though. It includes a huge dome that was an iconic view during WWII bombings. You just can't see all that from up close!

And now I’m home for the night, updating this blog. Tomorrow I have to wake up quite early to finish preparing for my oral final exams, which are at 7:00. We have our last class period and then can spend our last day in the city.