Anyone visiting London on a sunny Saturday morning who IS NOT ENJOYING THE FOOD AND SMELLS AT BOROUGH MARKET does not deserve to be in London at all.
I was meeting up with Shannon and her friends for lunch. I told Shannon not to talk to me about religion or missions or church. I was having a day off. I was losing my religion for a day. She agreed.
I found Shannon at Amanos, a coffee shop owned by a friend of ours. The building is actually part of an old monastery located on the edge of Borough Market. The monasterys in UK were all closed up a long time ago but many of the buildings are still around.
Shannon's friends turned up - Duncan and Megan - and Shannon had not had a coffee for about 10 minutes . .. so we went into the Market for a really good brew.
Megan is from Texas, as is Shannon. Shannon and our family and team have conspired on many projects in Texas and beyond. The latest was Doxology in Houston.
Duncan is a PhD science geek (genetics) who wrote his dissertation on the evolution of cells. We were talking about yeast cells and what motivates them to give themelves away in reproduction. Duncan believes it is natural selection but i have a strong, sneaking suspicion that the power of love gives impetus to all living things to give themselves away and this is what sustains and grows things. This self-giving love is a fingerprint of the Creator God who demonstrated this kind of love by giving himself away for us, while we were scumbags.
We passed an unusual meat market. Duncan and I paused for a minute to drool over the meat. Some wild hare took Duncan's fancy . . .
. . . and he couldnt resist.
Cant say I blame him.
Duncan had some good ideas on how to cook it. Like myself, Duncan is a fan of Nigel Slater who is a foodie extraordinaire and the writer of UK's best cook books.
Another surprise. Swiss beer sampling and I couldn't resist
I chose "Calvinus" because . . . I dont actually know why. It just stuck out to me. She handed me another and I asked what it was as I was gulping it down.
Its made from cannabis, she said.
WHAT? Hope it doesnt turn up in a blood test!
We grabbed some sandwiches and went outside to eat them at the Cathedral.
Southwark Cathedral, said Shannon, breaking her promise to not mention religion, is where John Harvard was baptised. Actually, its almost exactly 400 since John Harvard was baptised here in 1607. But who's counting?
He would later go to USA and found a university to train ministers and other "professionals". Other "professions" back then included medicine and law. But the profession to preach the gospel set the precedent for the high ethical standard of those who would choose to forsake a
career in the pursuit of something higher.
I said good bye and took off by myself at this point. The Tate Modern was just around the corner. My day was going well!
The Whole Day:
Losing My Religion in London. Part One, Two, Three, and Four
