Have you ever wondered what your life might have been like had you been born in another time or place?

I do. I imagine a lot.

Travel.  Read.  Learn.

Some of my favorite things.

We were privileged to travel together on a business trip that took us to the UK.  We ate in places where locals eat; not chain restaurants from the US (they are there).  We threw our regular way of eating out the window; embracing local favorites like “Toad in the Hole”

No trip to the United Kingdom would be complete without scones with clotted cream

There is something romantic for me about the UK. Not romantic like kiss-kiss but in the connection to something bigger, a bigger story than my own.
Do you ever feel the need to know you’re connected to the past? I’ve heard people of different ethnic groups express this when they have traveled to their country of origin so I know I am not completely off my rocker here. I have been able to travel to the UK twice and both times I was deeply moved by the sense of connection to ancient origins.
Take a moment and read this plaque posted within the ancient walls of Gloucester Cathedral:

For 1000 years a place of prayer.
Nothing in the US built by human hands is 1000 years old.
I stood wondering of the lives who offered prayers to the same triune God because of whom I live and breathe and have my very being.
Their challenges were different to be sure. But Solomon told us longer ago that there is nothing new under the sun. We might argue that technology, scientific discoveries, medicine are all examples of “new” things since Solomon wrote those words. But I think he spoke of something different; I think he spoke of human nature.
Our internal struggles with value, self-worth, relationships with others and with God are all the same struggles the people of south-west England dealt with over 1000 years ago.
My connection to the past is through the Cross.
We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All.
We all have been invited to live a with God life while we are here on earth.
We all have seen the war within as the conflict between two natures rages as we work out our salvation. Not work for. Work out.
Allow God to be seen in us and through us in the way we live our lives.
Simply peeling potatoes or doing laundry. Interacting with family that may be as near strangers through limits of time and space.
God has not changed. Countries change. Cultures change. We change. God does not change.
This Truth is the comforting connection that I arrived at as I stood wondering.