My husband and I had a wonderful couple of hours in the British Museum in the summer. It was unbelievable how many languages we could hear around us and I loved the fact that children were there having a great (educational) time. They must have been, because even us old timers learned a lot!
We have just had a preaching series on the book of Jonah. We were invited to stay after church to see an archaeological view of Ninevah. Instantly I remembered that we had seen the figures from one of the eighteen city gates in the British Museum.
I looked up the facts on the internet and a question popped up – is there anything British in the British Museum? I didn’t bother to check the answer – I know it was wrong to acquire treasures from abroad, but the museum takes its visitors to times and places that no other museum can offer.
There is a statue of a tree that was commissioned by the British Museum and Christian Aid. In the mid-1990s, a project set up by Bishop Sengulane in Mozambique offered farming equipment in exchange for weapons: They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. (Isaiah 2:4: NRSV)
Also during our London trip we visited the National Portrait Gallery where we saw this painting of Fanny Burney by her cousin Edward F. Burney. I was horrified to read on the plaque beside the portrait: She wrote extensive diaries and letters which are important sources of information about her time (1752-1840). One of most extraordinary letters describes in excruciating detail a mastectomy she underwent without anaesthetic.
Perhaps I have put too non-conformist a twist to the idea of culture! However all of these things sparked thankfulness.
Thank you, Almighty God, that places such as museums exist and that they welcome people of all ages and abilities. Thank you for public aquariums where we can learn more about the natural world and what we can do to preserve it. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to continue to learn, whether by travelling to places abroad and visiting museums or by sitting comfily at home watching documentaries or looking up facts on our laptop computers.
Thank you, Jesus, Prince of Peace, for giving artists their creative powers. Thank you that people are reading the Bible and bringing the word alive in ways that improve the world around us. May the initiative in Mozambique inspire other leaders – both religious and secular – to lay down their weapons and work for peace.
Thank you, Holy Spirit, that we are privileged to live in a country where various initiatives run, which put HEALTH back into the NHS. Thank you for technicians and radiographers who are in charge of the equipment which checks hundreds of breasts every week, saving lives and keeping families together for longer.
Amen.
Elaine Kinchin
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