Tradition seems to dominate much of what we have seen and experienced in the first few days of arriving in England, but what is the value of tradition as such if it does not touch the lives of people today? Awe, splendour, breathtaking are just a few of the words that describe St Paul's, Westminster Abbey, Canterbury Cathedral; even the central Methodist church is imposing in its size and location. Dominance, power, glory are all found in these buildings and co-exist with beauty, history embodied and a sense of the transcendent.
I try to get my head into the space and time of those that planned and constructed these magnificent buildings. I am left with the feeling that their intention to reflect the glory of God is seen in these soaring buildings, but while they all have a central role in the life of England, and for some, the world, I wonder what lasting effect they have on the millions who pour in as tourists.
So far then, I am beginning to try and hold on to, at times, competing ideas about the life of faith that has been, is now and could be - tensions, contradictions, shifting points of view all juggle in my head.
At one level tension between what has gone and what is now doesn't really exist, since the compelling power of the religious institutions that are represented by the buildings we see no longer holds sway. A tension, however, does lie behind the questions we ask and the future we seek.
Janine Romaszko
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