Flagging Attachment on the Edge of Empire
Sunday was our long drive day - I've now logged over 1000 miles on UK roads, in a single week. Yvonne slept in til noon in one of her 'fuzzy' days (low-grade seizure activity associated with her remaining brain tumour) so instead of visiting the local Baptist or Methodist churches I'd found using the GPS, I did an online search using Google.co.uk 'pages from the UK only' hoping to find live British streaming video church services. Holy Trinity Brompton (church of Nicky Gumbel, originator of the Alpha series) did not offer live services, but some pre-recorded talks. The Church Channel had Adrian Rogers' Love Worth Finding (from Florida) so I watched that for a sermon. I then looked at GodTV.com, which had teaching from a conference somewhere in North Carolina.
   However a knock at the door reminded me noon and checkout time had come. We scrambled to get to the car; thankfully Yvonne was able to walk by herself with some assistance, so I didn't need to bring in the wheelchair. Next we drove to Ironbridge near Telford where the world's first Iron Bridge still stands, herald of the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution (1779).
   En route to Scotland, we made a couple of brief detours. The first was to Blackburn, home of my father-in-law's favourite football (soccer) club, the Blackburn Rovers. An impressive stadium; I was able to obtain a couple of coasters for souvenirs.
   Also we stopped at Gilsland in Northumberland to see remains of Hadrian's Wall, including Poltross Burn Milecastle. At vintage AD 122, this was the oldest man-made object I've encountered in my British travels.
   Having left about noon from the north edge of Birmingham, we arrived at our motel in Glasgow about 9:45 p.m. It had been a long day; Yvonne slept most of the way so missed most of the excellent scenery from the Lake District north. But we have a fair bit of rugged Scotland yet to see. I listened to several MP3s by John Piper from his album "Men of Whom the World was Not Worthy" - biographies of John Bunyan, John Owen, and Charles H. Spurgeon.
   I have been realizing how in elementary school in the early 1960s, we still felt part of the British Empire. Our flag, the red ensign, contained the Union Jack in the top left. When we looked at a map of the world, we felt part of all that PINK (British commonwealth). Then in 1965 a new distinctively Canadian flag was introduced. Next, our constitution was officially patriated in 1982, severing ties with Great Britain (although we still have the Queen on our coins). Slowly our British-consciousness faded. Now we feel more an outpost of the United States, sharing close economic ties through NAFTA (our government is now a 1/8 share owner of General Motors!). Culturally the U.S. has infiltrated our attention, as the Emperor Hadrian and his legionnaires once pushed north through Britain. The propaganda effect of the media has been very successful. Hence even here in Britain it seems the only 'live' online religious broadcasting I can find is streaming from Florida or North Carolina.
   As the Picts and Scots resisted Hadrian's imperialism, should we be more conscious about our entertainment selections today? Which is more tending to 'barbarism' - turning off the TV, or consenting to watch what Hollywood throws at us?
[click for PHOTOS]
[click for Video of Poltross Burn Milecastle]
[click for Video of scenic panorama near Gilsland]