The single disappointment of the trip thus far is that Internet service is spotty at best. These pictures had to be added after this entry was posted. On
The Tate Gallery
Friday we went to the Tate Gallery in the morning and looked at some remarkable paintings by British artists from the past four hundred years.
The Lady of Schallot by John William Waterhouse
Lily Rose by John Singer Sargeant
Our tour guide was older than half the collection (kidding) and had some insights. We had to leave the tour before it was done because i wanted to see it more quickly before we left.
I am no art expert by any stretch of the imagination but I really do love art galleries. I marvel at 
these master works, like the two above, that are ten foot wide and eight feet tall. When you stand next to them you can look at the individual brush strokes. They seem meaningless but when you step back the whole is so much more than the sum of the parts.
One of the modern exhibits was a lobby that has phrases written all over the pillars and walls. Some are forward and others are backwards. It really put a cap on the day. Enlightenment art (the Modern Worldview also) sees human kind as on a slow but steady path to greatness, and moral superiority. We don’t need religious beliefs or systems because we are on the way to determining what is right and wrong for ourselves. This exhibit however convicts them all. Everyone who enters the Tate walks right on top of the truth in the matter. “We Are Evil,” the floor says to everyone who walks into the exhibit. Romans 1: 18 agrees, “All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God”
Next we took a ride in the London Eye. It is the worlds tallest observation wheel. Funny, I thought it was a ferris wheel. We were both behind this tremendously annoying kid who was whining in Spanish to his mom and running into me constantly. The worry was, I don’t want to be locked in an air-tight bubble with him for 30 minutes. We couldn’t seem to get away from him during the 4-D experience (pretty cool) no matter how fast we walked. He was right behind me in line as we were loading and I thought that all hope was lost. The lady loading the car said, “We’ve got room for two more.” Hallelujah!!! God is good.
Next we rushed across town for a trip North to Cambridge to see Jen and Mark. We got to see them and the kids Julliette and Luke and I’ll tell you what, there is nobody better to let you know the subtle idioms of a language than an 8 year old and a 6 year old. They’ll tell you when you’re saying things weird, and they laugh immediately when you say something that is culturally inappropriate.
For example, Trousers mean pants so don’t say pants when you mean trousers cause pants means underwear. If you want to bring down the house all you have to do is say is that you are going to put on a clean pair of pants. And the Movie Free Willy, well lets just say that it was released under a different name here in the U.K. Who knew?
Crisps are chips and chips are fries and fries are… I’m not sure. I’ll ask Luke tomorrow. I gotta tell him about Chilli Willie the Penguin tomorrow. Julie and I took over the kids bedroom so we are sleeping like the Waltons tonight. Good night Jim Bob!
ephesians2eight 