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London's Gatwick Airport
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The Pilgrimage has begun! All pilgrims (and all their luggage) arrived safely at London
Gatwick airport at 6:20 am local time. Temperature on the ground was a delightful 64 degrees!
After dragging ourselves and our belongings through
immigration and customs, we boarded our local coach under the care of driver Pete Best. All
our careful measuring and packing paid off, as our luggage, vestments and music fit nicely in
the coach's cargo area.
Elevenses |
We travelled through the beautiful English countryside to Trinity Methodist
Church in East Grinstead
where we were treated by the parishoners to "elevenses", a refreshing treat of fruit, juice, tea,
and buns. While we waited for our food to be ready, we took advantage of the glorious weather
to play a bit of American football on the lawn. Refreshed and fortified, we held morning devotions
in the Trinity sanctuary and learned the 'Lectio Divina' method of scripture reading. We 'opened
the eyes of our hearts' and meditated on one word or phrase from the reading. The service included
our pilgrimage candle and altar cloth.
Pooh Sticks Bridge
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Back aboard the coach, we travelled to Ashdown Forest, home of Winnie the Pooh.
We hiked along wooded trails to Pooh bridge and engaged in a few spirited games of Pooh
sticks, then went into town for lunch at Honey Pots tea room and shopping at the Pooh Corner
gift shop.
Pilgrim Hall |
Our final trip of the day was to our first lodging, at Pilgrim Hall retreat house. Our choir nanny
Annie Dale suffered a bit of a mishap on the stairs and injured her ankle - we're praying for
her comfort and recovery. We unpacked, settled in and had our first rehearsal in England. After
free time in the Pilgrim Hall pool, we had a wonderful family style dinner.
Prayer Beads
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Before evening devotions we each made a set of special prayer beads. Mrs. Mock gave us
a set of prayers to say while using the beads. During evening devotions, Mrs. Grizzle showed
us the first in a daily series of picture posters featuring special moments that we may have
seen during the day in the places we had been, including a baby sleeping on top of a suitcase, a statue of
a moose, and a suit of armor. We had a time for offering special concerns for family and
friends, lighting special prayer candles around the Pilgrimage candle on our makeshift altar.
We closed with an emotional prayer circle before collapsing, jet lagged but excited, in our beds
- making ready for another day.
'I felt closest to Jesus today when we were on our hike and I saw a special rock that was
broken, but shiny inside. It reminded me that even though I may be broken, I may still be
really shiny inside.'
-- pilgrim during evening devotions
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