Last night I attended Evensong at St. John’s College chapel. The sanctuary is amazing, as was the choir, which sang mostly in Latin. This is as high as high church gets.
Tragically there were only about 15 of us in attendance, which is fewer than were in the choir.
Today the weather broke and I was able to run to Grantchester, the next town over. (It’s famous for having the highest per capita of Nobel Prize Laureates in the world). The run follows the Cam River through pastures – complete with cows and sheep. Cambridge students have been talking this path for centuries. Lord Byron swam there. Rupert Brooke wrote a famous poem about it. And Pink Floyd has a song about it. I ran there to get some exercise, but mostly to visit the Parish Church of St Andrew and St Mary. The church dates back to the to 1,100 with parts of the current building dating back to the 14th century. (They have a register on the wall that lists every pastor from 1294 up through the present.)
The last time I was here I walked through the cemetery that surrounds it. And was quite taken by the fact that I had to look for a long time to find someone who lived to be fifty. The chapel still stands, though it’s under renovation.
I plan to walk there for services this Sunday.
In talking to Sheri I realized that my time in Cambridge has not been as spiritually vital as it was two years ago. I suspect that is largely attributable to the subject matter. Two years ago I was focused on Christ. This time it’s been pride, greed, envy, lust, wrath, gluttony and sloth. Not quite as inspiring.