War and Peace

This morning I went to the American Church in London. I was a little bit hesitant to go to the "American" Church when I want to experience British-ness to its fullest. But I also want to get to know some more people on this trip, and there were two other young women going to this church this morning. It actually turned out to be really good! I felt at home right away; I couldn't believe how good it felt just to go to church! The songs are pretty traditional, which is interesting because I've never really experienced that before. The message today (preached by a woman, which I was excited about) was really good. It was about Peter's vision of unclean animals coming down on the sheet and how God shakes us out of our comfort zones and teaches us to follow him through uncomfortable changes. The songs we sang were all about God's faithfulness and his changelessness. It was exactly the type of service I needed after this past week.

There aren't a TON of people who go to this church, which is also fun for me because I've never really gone to a small church. Brittney (one of the other girls from my program) and I went out to eat with the pastor who preached, the senior pastor, his wife, and his son. That was really exciting to get to do! (The other girl who had come actually had to leave early to go somewhere else.) While walking to church, Brittney, Jessica (the third girl), and I talked about how it's frustrating to try to have deeper conversations with people on this trip. Most of them want to go to pubs and clubs, and those atmospheres aren't exactly conducive to good conversation. After the service, Brittney and I talked about trying to start a "Religious Discussion Group" where anyone who is interested in spiritual issues, no matter what their belief system (even if they don't have one currently) can come and talk. We're just hoping for open and genuine conversation. We'll see if anyone else is interested.

After lunch, I went to the Cabinet War Rooms and Winston Churchill Museum. They're in Westminster (the neighborhood of Parliament and Westminster Abbey). The war rooms are still furnished exactly as they were in 1940, when they were used as Churchill's secret wartime headquarters during WWII. Recently, I've been very aware of and moved by war. At the dude ranch, I met someone in the Marines who reminded me of the good that has come out of the Iraq War, and her passion for what she does and for protecting the country she loves were very admirable to me. When I came here, I saw a permanent demonstration against the Iraq War that reminded me of the senselessness and anguish of any war and how this war is possibly even more so that way than some others. This group has been camped out near Parliament for years, and their passion and conviction are also admirable to me. When I went to the crypt in St Paul's Cathedral, there were a ton of memorials to people who had died in war. One in particular read: "IN HONOUR OF THE SOUTH ATLANTIC TASK FORCE AND TO THE ABIDING MEMORY OF ALL THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES ~ APRIL - JUNE 1982." Beneath the plaque were flowers placed there by the soldiers' loved ones. This literally made me cry (okay, I wasn't blubbering like an idiot) because there were so many names of people I'd never even heard of. In fact, I don't even know anything about the South Atlantic Task Force. I guess it just makes me so sad that so many nameless (to history) people have died in war, fighting for stupid things that schoolchildren will be bored learning about. But then, these people weren't nameless and faceless; they were beloved by those who placed flowers at the only grave they'll ever have. And then the Churchill Museum reminded me that, as much as I would like to be a gung-ho pacifist, I can't, at least not completely. Churchill was branded a warmonger by some who just wanted to keep appeasing Hitler, but I think almost everyone now agrees that Hitler absolutely had to be stopped--and he had to be stopped by force. Bonhoeffer believed that there was no such thing as just violence, but he was a part of a team that planned to assassinate Hitler. He thought it wasn't right but it was necessary.

Later tonight, I'm meeting with my internship advisor to discuss my terrible internship situation and to see what my options are. Basically, I want a new placement. Never in my life have I quit a job after only a few days just because I didn't like it, but this one is just horrible. I hate it, and I don't think I can handle going back there! Plus, I am going into thousands of dollars of debt for this trip, so it had better be a good experience. Hopefully the meeting will go well, and something will be solved.