Overwhelming

I will be reflecting on my recent travels for some time to come. Over the years I have often personally lived by the “work hard, play hard, pray hard” motto that has been attributed to a 19th-century Episcopal preparatory school warden. I have never taken the “hard” in that phrase to mean difficult, but something more like “vigorous” or with “focused effort.” In that sense, I feel like the past two weeks I have embodied the sentiment.

We have played (hiked, walked, eaten, rested, read, laughed, hiked, walked, eaten, rested, and hiked again) and yes, we have prayed – in different places, different spaces, and even different countries. Upon our arrival I think we worshiped in some form every day for the first five days of the journey: evensong at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London on Saturday, Morning Eucharist at John Wesley’s Chapel on Sunday, evensong at Westminster Abbey on Monday, prayer in the crypt in the Canterbury Cathedral on Tuesday, and evensong at Christ’s Church Cathedral in Oxford on Wednesday. Each evoked a sense of awe, wonder, and deep emotion within me.

The two most powerful overwhelmings I experienced this journey can be captured in the two pictures I share here on this post. The first is the small prayer room/closet on the back of John Wesley’s bedroom at the John Wesley House in London. This is the rectory where John spent the last 12 years of his life. Some have called this prayer room the “powerhouse of Methodism.” It is said that some years ago, a young group of theology students from Wheaton College toured famous revival spots in England and a young student almost got left behind when it was time to go. He was found in the prayer room with his knees on the spot where Wesley was known to have spent hours praying every day. His prayer was … “do it again, Lord … do it again.” The young student was Billy Graham.

I found myself in that prayer room with one old friend and one brand new one, all of us on the floor or on our knees and all of us in prayer around 6 AM one morning. I prayed the same prayer and also took time to express gratitude and intercession for everything that came to mind. I don’t really know how to describe it, but I was overwhelmed in a good, grace-filled way … it felt like a time of letting go (of grief over some of the struggles of recent years), a great humbling reset to my personal perspective (how small my problems and the perceived problems of so many in the states are compared to the world now and across history), and a time of awe and sheer delight at God’s amazing ways with the likes of flawed people like you and me.

My second most memorable overwhelming took place much further north at a different stopping point for prayer. This time I was by myself on the northern most point of the Isle of Skye located off the Scottish mainland to the west. I have posted pictures of this countryside, but there is nothing in print or even video that can do it justice. In a word – awe. Again, a great overwhelming – of letting go, breathing in, humbling perspective, and gratitude for God’s goodness. I have seen it before in so many places – but this is another one – a place where God just chooses to show off. I chose a nearby rock as my altar and once again took time to just be.

I am not sure why I am sharing all this in a post, but I think I wanted to capture some of it before the memory fades. Please understand, I am confident no one, including me, has to travel to distant places to experience the overwhelming goodness of God – I just think it is a “good and right, and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to God almighty, Creator of heaven and earth” – and today, I just wanted to stop and acknowledge one such occasion – and give honor where honor is due.