England, Scotland and Wales - Part 3 - York

Our final leg of our trip included York and London, with a day trip to Cambridge.  We started out by train from Edinburgh. This was the first train ride that had, well, issues.  We got to ride seated for about an hour, but it turned out that it was a Bank holiday and we had neglected to reserve seats ahead of time, so we were bumped and ended up standing for the remaining one and a half hours.  But that turned out to be ok, as we ended up standing with a couple who also hadn't reserved a seat.  He was a retired university professor and the conversation was very good.  He asked a lot of questions about the States, and we asked a lot about the UK.  

We arrived in York, which, like every other town, was lovely.  We stayed at the Grand York, which is a 5-star resort and easily the nicest place we stayed. Interestingly enough, it was also the cheapest!  We had a porter who took our bags to our room which was an amazing room. Breakfast wasn't included and it was pretty pricey, so we ate breakfast wherever we could in town, which wasn't really all that bad.  

York also boasts of Roman Walls that are easily navigable but we didn't walk on them on this trip.  We did visit The Shambles.  It's a street that dates to Medieval times, cobblestoned and lined with shops. The street is very narrow to keep light out because it was where the butchers were, so the meat wouldn't rot, well not as quickly anyhow.  Now it's just a lot tourist shopping, but interesting nonetheless.  

We spend a lot of time in the York Minster.  A Minster differs from a Cathedral by who was in residence there.   A cathedral was where a Bishop resided, while a minster is a more general term for a large or important church.    

We had tea at Betty's.  There are six different locations of the tea rooms. It is very "posh", the atmosphere and food were outstanding.  There was a line about 20 deep (maybe more!) standing in the rain waiting to get in, and the wait was worth it.  

We visited the York Castle Museum.  It's housed in the former prisons, and while the part that showed the conditions prisoners had to endure was unsettling, the rest of the museum was good.  One feature was a recreated Victorian street, complete with character actors.  Lots of other good stuff there, with insights into how life was for various different social/economic levels.  It really lent to a better understanding of the times. 

York is also home to the Railroad Museum, a tribute to the role trains had and still have in the UK.  We found that it is extremely easy to get around there using a number of different railroads, most notable ScotRail and the LNER.  My father, who is a huge train fan, would have loved the museum! 

I took a ton of pictures in all the museums, but due to the funky way the powers-that-be changed how to load pictures in this program, I can't figure out how to post them next to each other to get more on a page!  Ugh.  The limits to technology! Sometimes "improvements" aren't really!  Ok, off THAT soapbox!  


 These last picture was taken in the Museum Gardens as we were walking back to our hotel.  They have a Monet exhibit coming soon, so they had frames set up in strategic locations. But what caught my eye more than those was the scene here.  It reminded me of Georges Surat's painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of Le Grande Jatte", which is easily one of my favorite paintings. I had the pleasure years ago of seeing it at the Art Institute of Chicago. It's massive, covers an entire wall.  I stumbled several years ago the Stephen Sondheim play with Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters which tells the story of the painting, and fell in love with not only the musical, but the painting as well.  

And since this has gotten so long, I'm going to finish the trip in yet another blog entry of London and Cambridge, which should be my final entry! (But no promises, we'll see how it goes when I start writing! 

England, Scotland and Wales Part 2!

 Our last day in Glasgow was visiting the Kelvingrove Museum. (https://tinyurl.com/5dzkac7f). There were some amazing pieces of art, including a weird hanging head exhibit that greets you when you walk in.  

They also had many, many paintings by some of my favorite artists - Georges Seurat and Mary Cassett.

From there, we headed to the train station for a short trip to Edinburgh. They are only about 47 miles apart, so it was a quick trip.  Did you know that Chewbacca and the Storm Troopers spoke with a Scottish brogue? There were several characters walking around the Edinburgh Train Station. 

We stayed on Prince's Street, which is down "The Mound" from Edinburgh Castle. It is a majestic sight to behold, sitting on top of the hill like that.  

While we were there, we visited our church's missionary, Ben Canstaneta. Ben is teaching at the Free Church of Scotland's seminary, training those who want to learn conservative Reformed Theology.  He took us on a tour of the seminary, including a hike up to the very top, where we were treated to stunning views of the city. He also showed us the library, where there are many ancient texts, totally uncatalogued. I volunteered to come back for six months and work on creating an index of them.  Honestly, I would do it in a heartbeat, if they wanted me to!  

I half expected to hear Dick Van Dyke singing "Step in Time" when I saw this view! 

Edinburg is beautiful. It was raining a lot of the time we were there, but it also cleared up frequently. The saying "if you don't like the weather, wait a minute," is so very true there!  We had fish and chips, again, at Berties, which is a popular spot. Tom got the traditional fried fish, but they had a baked option, which I got, and yes, it was just as yummy.  

A must-visit to the Edinburgh Castle, which is so full of history that I really don't know. I need to read some Scottish/English/Welsh history books now!  They had numerous displays that were dedicated to various regiments of Scots that served in various wars. It's actually a military museum.  

I took tons of pictures, and simply don't have the bandwith to post all of them, but suffice it to say, it was sobering and at the same time very moving and beautiful in its own way. 

We toured St. Giles Cathedral, which served as John Knox's parish church, and is considered the mother church of Presbyterianism.  

If you have never heard of the story of the Greyfriar's Bobby, read about him here:  https://tinyurl.com/ms3jffff.  If in Edinburgh, you have to find him and rub his nose.  We didn't get to grab a bite at the pub, so that's a definite plan on our return trip!

Another highlight of Edinburg was having the opportunity to worship at St. Columba Free Presbyterian Church.  It was literally like being at home at our own church! Up to and including the fact that their pastor is from the States - Mississippi, to be exact! That was a bit of a shock, but the people we met who were Scots or English were very engaging, friendly and really reflected the love of Christ.  

The National Museum of Scotland was fantastic, and we really didn't have the time to do it justice. We also visited a Chocolatorium where we were told how chocolate is created, and got to pour our own samples, which, by the way, were amazing. Our chocolate here doesn't hold a candle to theirs. The quality is simply superior.  

The last highlight I'll tell about is the Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour. Yes, it's a walking tour (likely in the rain as ours was!) but honestly I recommend taking it if you are a literary fan.  The two gentlemen/actors who gave the tour were not only very entertaining, but very knowledgable about Scotland's literary heritage.  

Since this has gotten pretty lengthy already, and I haven't even gotten to York, London or Cambridge, I'll stop here and add a part 3!  

Oh, one last picture. Bagpipers were a frequent sight and sound. Honestly, I'm not sure who can dislike a man in a kilt, blowing on a bagpipe! 

Devotional Musings

 Yes, the continuation of my trip will come up, probably not until next week. But in the meantime, this.

I'm s-l-o-w-l-y working my way through J. I. Packer's Knowing God.  Heavy reading and if you do start, plan a long time to digest all the wisdom. I've got a notebook that is filled with my notes and thoughts as I go along.  I also ordered a devotional called Knowing God Through the Year, compiled by Carolyn Nystrom. I didn't start it at the beginning of the year, so I'm a bit off of her calendar, but the timing of the reading is definitely from God. 

Our church is having a tea this weekend.  For the past two years, we have had a brunch for the women of the church, and, tea lover that I am, I suggested that it take the form of a tea this year.  It met with some resistance, but honestly there were more people in favor of it, so we went with it. It's a lot of work, and I do mean a lot, and there have been some issues with misunderstandings. It definitely is teaching me a lot about how this church operates and how things are/should be done.  

Anyhow, in the devotional, the last day of the "Spring" section, it was the end of several days of talking about God's wisdom.  The scripture passage was James 3:17, and I use the ESV:

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

The journal prompt at the end was to take each character trait and put it on my calendar, looking for opportunities to live out those traits.  Today's word was peaceable.  Fitting, as I wasn't feeling particularly peaceable, so it was definitely a trait I need to work on.  Turns out that my worries were put to rest as the issues I thought I had turned out to be nothing at all.  

I'm curious to see how timely the subsequent days will turn out to be. Well, maybe not, but I'm sure they will be, regardless of how I feel!  Now to put them in practice! 

Trip of a Lifetime - England, Wales and Scotland! Part 1

On May 14, Tom and I took off for an adventure of a life time. We were headed to the United Kingdom for a whirlwind trip that took us to Bath, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Chester, England; Wales; Glasgow, Greenock, and Edinburgh, Scotland; back to England to York and wrapping up in London, with a day trip to Cambridge.  There are far too many pictures to include them all here (over 1000!)  but I'm going to include a few.  

One of the highlights, and part of the reason for the trip, was to get in touch with my ancestry.  Through DNA, Dad, and subsequently the rest of us, confirmed that William McKeith was in fact his biological father.  So I really wanted to go visit where he was born, so I could get a better understanding of what drove his father, Daniel, to emigrate to the States.  Reading the history of Greenock, Glasgow and Edinburgh, and we did come away with a better understanding of the hardships they endured, which is what likely led them to the United States.  It was very sobering. We didn't get to the town where Daniel was from - Creiff, Perthshire which was a bit to far to get to on this trip. It's north of Edinburgh, about 60 miles, and since we didn't have a car (and weren't about to attempt driving on the other side of the road from the other side of the car!), we couldn't make it this time.  But that just means we have to go back. Both of us fell in love with Scotland, even if we were rained out in both Glasgow and Edinburgh!  

Anyhow, I did get to Greenock, where William was born.  There was a lovely museum/historical institute - the Watt Institute - named after the inventor James Watt, who also was born in Greenock.  The town has a history in that it was a major ship building center for Scotland and still is fiercely proud of that heritage. 

But before we even got to Greenock, we had a wonderful time exploring the other towns.  Bath was beautiful, home not only to the Roman Baths, but also to Jane Austen.  We stayed in a lovely B&B, a Victorian home covered with wisteria and had tea two or maybe three times there, including at the Jane Austen House, where we had Mr. Darcey's Tea!

Stratford-Upon-Avon is of course home to The Bard - William Shakespeare.  And yes, it was very touristy, but we had to visit! It is a lovely town though and the weather was amazing while we were there.  

Chester is a very cool village with one of the oldest continuous Roman Walls. It goes around the city center for 2-ish miles, and yes, we did walk it with only one detour to visit the amazing Chester Cathedral.  They had a really cool Lego model of the Cathedral, which definitely caught Tom's eye! 

Day trip to Wales, which is an amazingly, hauntingly beautiful country. I loved that they are keeping the ancient language alive. We went over the highest aqueduct - the Poncysyllte Aqueduct, which part of the Llangollen Canal, over the River Dee.  I would love someday to take a narrow boat cruise on the canals of England/Scotland/Wales - not all obviously - that would take forever, but at least one of them!  

But before we got there, we visited the town of Conwy and the Conwy Castle - ancient and impressive! 

From Wales, we headed to Glasgow.  That's where we finally hit the weather that Scotland is known for! Rain - lots and lots of rain.  The day we spent in Greenock was nice, but Glasgow itself was sopping wet!  It was our anniversary, so we didn't let the rain deter us and had a fantastic dinner where we were treated very well.  The Glasgow cathedral is, much like every other cathedral, very impressive with impressive architecture, and soaring stained glass windows. 

This post is long enough, so I'll do part two later - Edinburgh, York, London and Cambridge! 

 

Knowing God

 

I’ve been working through J. I Packer's Knowing God for the past several months. I’m reading, taking notes and looking at the study guide questions. 

One of the first questions he asks is what is my ultimate aim? Why am I studying the Godhead? I suppose my hungering for it started when I read Tony Evans’ book, God Himself, while going through counseling in 2022. It was at a particularly rough time in my life, and in some ways that book was life changing. I was brought up in the church, accepted Christ at a very young age, Christian college educated, yet even though I had all the head knowledge, it wasn’t heart knowledge. I’ve been driven to know more about God as a result. I’m also driven to learn more about Covenant Theology, but that’s a different blog! 

Packer points out five truths, five foundation-principles about God: 

• God has spoken to man, and the Bible is his Word 

• God is Lord and King over his world, he rules all things for his own glory 

• God is Savior, acting in sovereign love through the Lord Jesus Christ to rescue believers from sin 

• God is Triune – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit 

o All three act together in salvation – The Father proposing redemption, the Son securing it, and the Spirit applying it. 

• Godliness means responding to God’s revelation in trust and obedience, faith and worship, prayer and praise, submission and service. 

I am driven to know more of God’s character, to understand him and His ways as he reveals himself to me. Then I am better prepared to tell others about what God has done in and through me.  I have found, since my major health issues and how I finally recognized God working, that I'm no longer afraid to freely share just what God did in my life.  It doesn't terrify me any longer, because one can't argue with my personal story.  So, it’s not just to gain knowledge, even if that is a lofty goal, but to actually act on it. I want to KNOW God, not just know ABOUT God. There is a difference. For example, I know about politicians, celebrities, etc, but I can’t say I really KNOW any of them. (Not that I really want to!)

 Packer lists four things that knowing God involves:

 

• Listening to God’s word and receiving it. 

• Noting God’s nature and character as revealed through Scripture. 

• Accepting His invitations and doing what He commands. 

• Recognizing and rejoicing in the love he has shown.

 Further on, Packer makes this comment, that will stay with me: 

 …those who know him – that is, those by whom he allows himself to be known – are loved and cared for by him. 

Do I “know” God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit? Do they know me? The disciples knew Jesus in a way that is different from how we do. They walked, talked, slept, ate, lived with him daily for the three years of his earthly ministry. Their experience was bodily - physical – while mine is spiritual. Truth about Jesus was revealed to them slowly, while we have the written word which contains all of it. Along those lines, Jesus taught them day by day with his “fresh words”, but today I can read it and understand how Jesus is revealed in every page of Scripture. But knowing Jesus is still a matter of personal discipleship. Jesus is the same today as he was then and knowing him involves the same – walking and learning from him. To know him is still the same – being saved by him from sin, guilt and death. It's a personal thing.  Packer explains it through three things:

• Knowing God is a matter of personal dealing, dealing with him as he reveals himself to me.
• Knowing God is a matter of personal involvement - mind, will, feeling - and committing to him, identifying with his purposes and concerns, and, most importantly, doing what he commands.
• Finally knowing God is a matter of grace.  And this is an area I am coming to understand better.  Packer reminds me that all the initiative starts with God - the drawing me to him.  

We don't make friends with God on our terms, but at his invitation and on his terms.  We can't seek him out unless he draws us.  But my question for my Calvinist friends is this: can we refuse to respond?  That's where I"m stuck.  And why I'm continuing to study.  

(All quotes from Knowing God, by J. I. Packer. Published by Holder Y& Stroughton Ltd, London,  1973. Pages 18, 39, 40-42.)

Letters from the Front Part 2

As promised in my last blog post, here's the second letter that my father-in-law received. First, the transcript

17 Oct 51

Hi Tom,

Well how is that rough Basic Coming along. Are they working the hell out of you, I hope. By now you should be about finished at Harris Island. But I’ll send this letter to that address because it is the only one that I have. I hope you get yourself a racket somewhere and don’t come to Korea. It is getting a little rough over here. When you start a push with a Batln (sic - possibly Battalion) that is a little over strength and *9 chips* (sic, unsure what this word is) late you have about 53 rifle men left. Also there was only one weapons squad left in the 3 rifle Co. When I go back in a day or two I can be platoon Sgt. But we only get a 4 man Platoon. At least we had 21 men left on the 17th. Maybe by now they have some replacements.

Were having quite a time here. We have about 1/2 of “Charlie Company” in this hospital. It is not even safe to be a cook in a live company *and* (not sure, could be something else) have a couple of the cooks in this hospital. We lost every officer & every non-com. So they made a platoon of the entire Co. and made them a part of “Baker Co.”

You *Glong* (sic) Happy So & So’s in the Marines and are going to be in for a surprise if you get over here. We killed at least 2 chinks for every wounded guy we had and still they kept coming. I picked up some shrapnel in the leg from a grenade, that night they “Bonzied” us from 4 AM till 9 AM. I got hit about 5:30 and was*dyled* (sic). You would be surprised how happy the guys were when they get hit.

Well let me know how things are in the Marines. I still want to know why you joined that outfit. I never could figure it out.

Well that’s about all

Your Pal

Eddie

Letters from the Front

Tom and I started working through his father's documents and photos that have been sitting here since he passed in 2007. We found were a lot of letters - letters from his father to his mother while they were courting, letters from his uncle Frank. But so far the most interesting letters are from a friend of his name Eddie. Eddie was in the Army, stationed in Korea in 1951. The letters describe what he was going through. They are rough, sobering, but the offer insight into what life was like in a war zone.

For some background and identifying information, Tom's father was Bronislaus Thomas Ploski, born in 1929. He grew up in Danbury, Connecticut and Tom believes he went to the now-closed Sacred Heart Parochial School. I'd really love it if I could find Eddie's family, but there is no information that would indicate Eddie's last name. I can tell from the letters that he was stationed near the 2nd Division.

Here is the transcription of the first letter:

17 Sept 51

Hi Tom

Well how is it to be a young happy Marine. I have been trying to get your address for a month now. I got your letter yesterday. What was that crack you made in your letter about Japanese. I was in Japan about 70 hours then I was back on the boat on my way to Korea and the front line. I’m not an MP just a plain rifle man in line company.

My first day in the company I went out on a 16 hour patrol. What a blast in the ass that was. Up & down mountains for 16 hours. And that is all I have been doing since. That is all there is in Korea is mountains. For the first month I carried a BAR the Belt & the AR must weigh 40 lb. I though I’d never make some of these hills but I did. But you sure feel safe with a AR. I finally had to give up the AR when they made me a squad leader.

There may be peace talks going on, but that don’t make any differences to the Chinks. They kicked the shit out of us at night two weeks ago. We’re not the only ones. The Marines got the shit kicked out of them too. One of my buddies is in the 23 Reg of the 2nd Div. He wore and told me how they had to help the Marines.

They sure gave us a rough time. We were on a patrol base that was almost behind Chink lines. For 2 days (sic, may not be) they would throw mortars in on us once in a while then one night they let us have it with 120 mortars. Over here the GI *unk* dig for fox holes. But you should have seen us dig that night. The Chinks must have crawled under their own mortar fire because when the mortars stopped some of them were in our foxholes. I never heard so many purp guns in all my life they seemed to be firing at me from all sides. You can always hear them once they start a attack they blow bugles & whistles and start yelling.

Our squad was lucky we held them off in front of us with grenades but they overran the higher ground on our flank and started firing down on us. When the order came to move back we sure did move. When you look back and see someone shooting in your direction your bum run a long way.

The line was about 4 miles in back of us and I know guys who doubled timed most of the way with all their equipment. I left helmet and belt and a lot of other equipment behind. I don’t mind fighting in the day time so much but I sure hate fighting at night. I hope you come over here then you wish you never joined the marines. No I hope you don’t come over. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody. This is a filthy stinking country. I don’t see how people can live here.

Well don’t believe all they teach you in basic. You never use it over here. They waste so much time teaching you how to fire a rifle. Then I get over here and we lay down marching fire from the hips & shoulders. I’ve had 10 different weapons and haven’t been over here 10 weeks yet. You never know how a rifle is *zeroed in* (possibly) Every time we go back in reserve for a couple of days they give us bayonet Patrice. But I’ve yet to hear of a guy using a bayonet on a “chink”. If you’re close enough to stick him your’e close enough to shoot him.

The one thing that gets me is going to chow. Usually we’re on the top of a hill 300-400 meters high and you have to up and down it 3 times a day to get hot chow. I will say that we got better chow on the front lines than you’re getting in the States. We got about 18 cans of beer twice a month on the line. And Except for the beer you don’t have to pay for anything.

Yes Tom, it’s a lot of fun. We’re near Yongchon (Yeoncheon) now. It is east of Kaesong. Well if you ship out to the west coast let me know and I’ll have a foxhole dug by the time you get to Korea, for you.

Well I’ll have to end now. I need a little sleep because we usually have to stay awake all night. If you ever get time drop me a line and let me know why you joined the Marines. And also tell me how tough training is.

Your Pal,

Eddie

PS You’ll have to excuse the writing. I’m in a chink bunker. Those bastards don’t make them big enough for a GI. And I’ll be damned if I’ll make it any bigger.

Yours,

Eddie

PS I hear you write to Jean all the time. Anything happen between you & her or is it that you are just good friends?

Eddie