History is Happening Right Now

Every Sunday when I lived in London, we took a bus out to Islington to go to church in a beautifully modern building. On the way, we would pass Charles Dickens’ house. The Charles Dickens. The actual house where he lived and breathed and walked. And everyone else would just walk by like there was nothing important about it. It’s just in the middle of a little neighborhood, near two bus stops and a library.  I have never understood history so clearly.  History wasn’t always “history.” There were people that lived it and there are people that are living it right now, including you and me.

Westminster Abbey is one of my favorite examples of current history. I don’t think anyone can contest the fact that it is full of history from the past (don’t even get me started on the people buried in Poet’s Corner), and I think we can all remember history being made when Will and Kate were married not too long ago. But the best part about the Cathedral is that it’s not dead. I attended Evensong there one Monday night, and it struck me so forcefully that it is not just a monument and a tourist attraction—it is an actual church.  People were there to worship as a normal part of life.  There was a businessman that slipped in the back and looked like he was just coming from work, but once the prayers began, he was praying right along. And there were several older people that all met up from their various seats afterwards, and you could tell that they had all been coming to church there for a very long time. It was amazing to me that all the history around them wasn’t only there to be awe-inspiring.  It was also there because the people needed a place to go to church.