Then is Now - This is That

Library Time

2009-02-08T12:34:00.000-08:00

I decided to go spend some time in the library - the Strahov Library that is! This is a pretty amazing library located in the Strahov Monastery overlooking the old city of Prague. It was founded in 1140 A.D. and its name means "guarding place."

They had a little trouble at first maintaining proper library procedures. There was a big fire in 1258, the Hussite warriors were a bit nasty in the 1400s, and the Swedes decided to check out a few books after they invaded Prague in 1648 at the end of the Thirty Years War. I wonder what their late fees are!

There are two halls in the library, both with frescoed ceilings. The first is the Theological Hall, built in 1679.

This is a book turning machine. You can use a number of books all at once and simply by turning the handle move from one book to the next. I'm not sure why they don't install these in libraries today.

Shhhh...he's trying to sleep!

The second hall is called the Philosophical Hall and was added later because of the growing collection. It holds 50,000 books.

These are books about different trees. Each book is bound in the bark of the tree that it describes.

These are just ordinary old books.

Kutná Hora - A Walk Around Town

2009-01-31T13:45:00.000-08:00

The old city of Kutná Hora was delightful. Pastel buildings greeted you around each corner along the winding streets. Light snow was falling...and I was cold walking outside all day!

I suspect that a paint job is the least of their worries.

We had lunch in what felt like a Medieval Czech restaurant. Four of us shared a wooden bowl filled with saddle of wild boar, deer meatloaf, sausage, mushroom stuffing, roasted potatoes, potatoe pancakes, and gingerbread dumplings with cranberries.

And the most amazing cat walk I've seen, complete with a second story entrance!

Kutná Hora - Church of Saint Barbara

2009-01-31T13:01:00.000-08:00

The Church of Saint Barbara in Kutná Hora rivals St. Vitus in Prague. Construction began in 1388, but was not finished until 1905. It is quite amazing!

The vaulted ceilings give a profound sense of the transcendence of God.

I really like stained glass windows. I took a picture of every one...just because I could.

This is the pulpit for all those "aspiring" preachers!

Behind the altar was the most amazing tree.

And of course, the organ.

Kutná Hora - The Bone Church

2009-01-31T12:17:00.000-08:00

I was a part of a group of six students from IBTS who traveled one hour by train to a town east of Prague called, Kutná Hora. We spent the day walking around the town. The first stop was the Kostnice Ossuary, or what I call the Bone Church. This is a chapel built in 1511 to house bones that began to pile up after the plague. In 1870 František Rint was given free reign to do whatever he wanted with the bones from about 40,000 people. He went wild!

You go down into the chapel and suddenly the phrase, "heads up," takes on a whole new meaning!

This chandelier contains every bone in the human body!

I was reminded of Gimli in Peter Jackson's version of the "Return of the King" for some reason.

This guy had far too much time on his hands!

Back in Prague!

2009-01-27T14:56:00.000-08:00

This blog is turning into more of a travelog than an insightful blog about deep thoughts. Perhaps that may come yet...

Here is a different perspective on Prague. Behind IBTS (International Baptist Theological Seminary) is a beautiful valley - just minutes outside the city. I went for a walk yesterday.

Tolkien's Oxford Two

2007-03-08T20:50:00.000-08:00

Here is the Eagle and Child (also known as the Bird and Baby) where the Inklings met every Tuesday for years.

Sometimes the Inklings would meet in C.S. Lewis' rooms at Magdelan College.

When Tolkien lived in the city of Oxford he attended the St. Aloysuis Catholic church.

This is Tolkien's favorite tree. It is a black pine that towers in a corner of the Oxford Botanical Garden.

Tolkien was buried in the same place as his wife Edith, who had died several years earlier. He had their favorite nicknames for each other from the Silmarilian put on the tombstone.

Tolkien's Oxford

2007-03-08T20:31:00.000-08:00

On the way home from Prague I stopped over in Oxford for a day. This was my Tolkien pilgramage! I visited many of the places where Tolkien lived and taught in Oxford. Below are four houses that Tolkien lived in.

99 Holywell Street (1950-1953)

5 Manor Road (1947-1950)

50 St. John's Street

21 Merton Street (1971-1973)

This is the pathway behind C.S. Lewis' college called Addison's Walk, where Tolkien sought to convince Lewis to become a Christian, which he did the next morning.

Prague Highlights

2007-03-03T18:14:00.000-08:00

Here are some further "after affects" of my trip to Prague. The city is so intriguing and I have taken so many pictures that I can't help continuing to share them. However, you may be starting to feel that this is like getting invited over to someone's house to see pictures of their trip and they never know when to stop...

This is the Astronomical Clock located on the side of the Town Hall tower. Every hour the two doors on top open up and the Apostles shuffle by. To mark every hour, the skeleton below rings a bell. The story goes that Master Hunus built the clock in 1490 and was then blinded with a red-hot poker by the town councillors to make sure he couldn't make another clock for someone else. In retaliation, he groped his way around the clock and succeeded in stopping it, but then promptly died of a heart attack. The clock stayed broken for 80 years. I guess time stood still!

I'm not sure that I would have wanted to be involved in municipal politics in Prague during the Middle Ages. These two buildings were part of City Hall and the Czechs had an interesting practice of removing the mayor from office. Several times, city leaders where thrown from these top windows to the pavement below. Getting kicked out of office was taken very literally.

This is one of the most beautiful Gothic churches in Prague. The Tyn Church is boxed in by the houses around it, which are built right against its walls.

The former Jewish ghetto of Josefov is very close to the town square. There are six very unique synagogues and a Holocaust memorial with over 80,000 names covering every bit of wall space. The synagogue below was built in 1530 and is beside the Old Jewish Cemetery, which was in use from 1439 until 1787. There are an estimated 100,000 people buried in the cemetery, sometimes 12 layers deep.

The Estates Theatre can be found on the other side of the Town Square. It is in this theatre that Mozart premiered Don Giavonni. Sherry and I had the privilege of seeing this opera in this theatre.

Picture Perfect

2007-02-25T19:19:00.000-08:00

This view of the Old Town Square was one of my favorite places to take pictures in Prague. Here is a very, very small percentage of the pictures I took from the same spot!

I waited almost an hour for this shot with my tripod set up. I had to guard my camera from being knocked over by passing pedestrians. The sun has set already but the sky had not yet turned pitch black. I found this blue sky quite astounding!

Charles Bridge

2007-02-25T19:09:00.000-08:00

I'm now back home from my trip to Prague. I had some trouble creating posts the last few days in Prague and then had to deal with a week of jet lag. What will now follow for a while will be the after affects of my trip.

The Charles Bridge spans the Vltava River in Prague and was built in 1357. There are about 28 statues located along both sides. The first was a crucifix constructed in 1683. This bridge was the site of the last battle of the Thirty Years’ War in 1648. Today, people stroll leisurely across the bridge and the only fighting I saw was between the seagulls and the pigeons.

St Vitus Cathedral

2007-02-15T14:39:00.000-08:00

I'm going to post a few blogs with some pictures of Prague...finally!

St. Vitus Cathedral is an amazing Gothic structure that watches over the city of Prague. It was began in 1344 and not completed until 1929. It was named after Vitus, a Roman slave. You can see the scuplture on one of the doors of people bringing his arm as a relic to the cathedral. I guess you can say that he had a hand in building the cathedral!

Postmodern Prague

2007-02-13T15:09:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I have last posted a blog. Part of my loss of creativity has been due to having a broken camera for over a week. The inabilty to take pictures has been quite traumatic! However, there was one place in the city which fixes cameras and so now I am back to normal.

Here are two examples of postmodernism in action. Gil, you will appreciate these!

Museum of Communism and McDonalds!

The Dancing House

Voices and Faces

2007-02-05T14:19:00.000-08:00

As I travel in buses and on the subway; as I walk the cobblestone streets; as I peruse shops selling wares…I understand only the voice in my head. It is a strange experience to be surrounded by voices that express words and thoughts which I cannot understand. I hear sounds, mostly Czech, occasionally German or Russian, which enter my mind without any recognition of meaning. And so the only voice I hear is my own.

But I see faces…young faces, old faces, men and women, a few children...all of them strangers. Virtually no one smiles. I wonder why. Are they happy? Do they have hope? We stand side by side…together…alone. As I hold open the door for the person behind me, a cautious smile extended in thanks reaches out to grasp this small act of kindness. Can God be seen in the conscious acknowledgement of another’s presence? Can kindness open eyes to see more than my face?

Prague Old Town Square

2007-02-02T12:22:00.000-08:00

I went for a walk around Prague this afternoon. The first stop is, of course, the Old Town square. Here again is my attempt at another "panoramic" view of this wonderful place.

Do you know your African Christian history?

2007-02-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

On Thursday we heard a presentation from Jonathan Bonk, executive director of Overseas Ministries Study Center in New Haven, Connecticut. He was on his way to Africa to work on a very special project. He shared with us that western Christians have virtually no knowledge of Christianity in Africa. It is the invisible continent when it comes to books about Christian history, yet ironically, it is the place where Christianity is growing the fastest!

The Dictionary of African Christian Biography is starting to fill in this gap of awareness. It is an online dictionary that is gathering the oral history of African Christians and putting it in written format. Educational institutions in Africa countries are taking responsibility to gather the stories of influential and significant people in African Christian history.

You can find this dictionary at www.dacb.org

To start with, I would suggest that you read the stories of Hakalla Amale and Kizito. You will be amazed at what God is doing beyond our small circles.

IBTS Courtyard

2007-02-02T11:57:00.000-08:00

Here is a "panoramic" view of the IBTS main campus. This was orignially a 17th century estate, which has been completely remodeled as a campus!

Of course you noticed there is no snow and the grass is green!

What is a Research Colloquia?

2007-02-02T11:19:00.000-08:00

I have been in Prague 5 days and for 4 1/2 days I have been sitting in the same chair from 9:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. attending a research colloquia. So what is a research colloquia? It is the opportunity for Ph.D. students to share the present state of their thesis research. There are three kinds of reports: proposal reports, where students present their idea for a thesis topic for the first time; upgrade reports, where students present about two chapters to be assessed for quality; and progress reports, where students present what they have completed over the last year (this is what I did). The reports range in length from 15 minutes (proposals) to 30 minutes (progress) with the same amount of time for discussion and feedback.

What is very exciting about being a part of this research colloquia is the delightful diversity present around the table. The following countries were represented this last week: Czech Republic, Russia, United States, Moldova, Belgium, India, Croatia, Liberia, Belarus, Norway, Sweden, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Bosnia, Lithuania, Latvia, and of course Canada! This doesn't even cover all the students who attend here. I am very thankful to be part of this Body!

The Journey

2007-01-29T13:35:00.000-08:00

I have arrived in Prague after a long day's journey. Perhaps of no surprise, I had begun to read the Lord of the Rings at the start of my trip. As I entered into this story again I found myself identifying with the narrative. For example, have you ever recognized the connection between Hepburn, Saskatchewan and Hobbiton, Shire. After a long arduous journey through the night, the hobbits stopped briefly at Bree, while I had a layover in London, the representative English city. I am presently reading about the Council of Elrond, which reminded me of the day long meetings I was a part of. This connection is further reflected in the similarity between the International Baptist Theological Seminary, which is located in a beautiful estate nestled in a wooded valley and Rivendell. Of course none of this is allegorical since I agree with Tolkien: "I cordially dislike allegory in all its manifestations, and always have done so since I grew old and wary enough to detect its presence."

A couple of random observations:

While in London I bought the least expensive burger meal at this Burger King in the Heathrow airport. It cost a whopping 4.40 pounds. This works out to $10.19 Canadian!

In the London airport washroom, the "flush" button is labeled "WAVE ON." But be careful...I literally had to step back after pushing it in order not to get splashed!

Beginning

2007-01-24T20:18:00.000-08:00

Then is now! This is that! These mottos contain an inherent paradox. Yet it is in the bridging of the chasm between now and then that what was initially incomprehensible is discovered. The title for my blog is James Wm. McClendon Jr.'s "baptist vision." This is a hermeneutical strategy for interpreting our own experience in light of the biblical story. This vision proposes a way to see our lives that can provide meaning where before only a clouded gap appeared.

I've been quite hesitant to begin blogging as Leighton can attest to. I suspect that he will not quite believe that I have actually posted my first post. I will not dwell on my suspicions about the whole blogging enterprise, for I have now entered the fray as one more... Yet this beginning here and now has a particular impetus. I'm about to begin a short journey which I hope to share with you through pictures and reflections.