Beckah Across the Pond: November News From Beckah At Bath Abbey

Happy Thanksgiving! I have been quizzed constantly about the significance of this American holiday and to be perfectly honest, I don’t know much about it. I have found that it is an uncomfortable conversation to have with people outside of my own culture because it forces a reflection on the ill-treatment of Native Americans. I may not know the historical events too accurately, but what I do know is that I will miss being with my friends and family and I will especially miss pumpkin pie. All is not lost though; I will be traveling to London at the end of the month to celebrate with fellow Americans who also find themselves on this side of the pond at this time of year.

I am continuing to have a great time in Bath. I am amazed at how quickly I have been able to form a life here. I have formed friendships with people I work and worship with. I have fallen in love with the children in the Abbey choirs, and most importantly I have learned the value of a routine. Nothing makes one feel more at home than having a busy schedule week after week. It truly is a sign of belonging.

While November in America is the month of Thanksgiving, and Black Friday; November in Great Britain is a month for remembering. On November 5th, the British people celebrate Guy Fawkes Night. In 1605 Guy Fawkes attempted an attack on the House of Parliament, but he was unsuccessful. In result, after capture, he was sentenced to be drawn and quartered. If you don’t know what that is, I will spare you the gruesome details*, but let’s just say it makes me feel a little better about skirting around the story of Thanksgiving. (*The punishment of being drawn and quartered is depicted at the end of the movie, Braveheart.) The actual celebration of this holiday is a lot like our Fourth of July. Only instead of enjoying the warmth of sunshine and outdoor picnics before watching the fireworks, people here enjoy the warmth of bonfires and bundling up in layers of ‘jumpers’ and jackets before watching, well… fireworks. I was lucky enough to watch fireworks from the top of the Abbey tower, 49 meters above the ground.

On the eleventh day, at the eleventh hour, in this, the eleventh month, people across the country stood still, in silence, to remember. In the weeks before, poppies began to appear on every lapel, and small wooden crosses were decorated and displayed for fallen soldiers. It was a beautiful event and one that lasted for weeks, with ceremonies and church services, monuments and memorials. In the Abbey square a cross was assembled and turned into a small garden. People placed memorials to loved ones that they had lost in any of the wars of this century and the last. The country was proud and solemn on Remembrance Day. It was an exercise in looking back into the past.

About a week after the cross memorial was taken down; a Christmas tree was put in its place. Little stalls began to sprout up all around. And the Abbey itself became consumed, not with remembrance, but with preparation. Advent is upon us. It is hard to believe that Christmas is less than a month away. I still feel as though I left Cleveland Hopkins Airport last week. Advent is a season of preparation, of looking to what is coming in the times ahead. I thought that it was quite a shift in direction going so quickly from Remembrance Day to Advent, but right in the middle of that transition lands Christ the King Sunday.

I might have found it hard to make such a sudden switch from looking at the past to looking at the future, but then we hear of this image of God as the Alpha and the Omega; the beginning and the end and all that is in between. Through our remembrance and our preparations, God is there. He was there with those whom we remember, He will be with us in what is to come, and as we move from remembering to preparing, He is here with us now.

God’s blessings and peace as we move into the season of Advent and soon enough, Christmas!