Words About London and Londoners (I was going to post this much earlier)

London moves very fast. If you find yourself at the tube station at about 8:00 in the morning, it is very obvious that people have things to do and places to go. Pat told Steph and I that her friend once saw an older man pass out on a train--he was having a stroke or something--and a couple guys carried him out of the train and onto a bench and then reboarded to go off on their merry way, having gotten him out of the way. I believe it. Londoners are so stinking busy. A couple months ago I read that the people in England work more hours than those in every other country in Europe.

When you are out and about in downtown London on a working day you have to try to go with the flow of pedestrian traffic because if you don´t, if you stop to look at a map in the middle of the pavement (sidewalk), people will bump you an give you stern looks. It´s best to keep moving and try to figure out where to go as you move along. I didn´t find Londoners unfriendly. I think they are just very busy and have little time to bother with anyone outside of their own spheres of existence. Of course, that isn´t true for everyone. I was fortunate to spend time with a few very gracious, friendly Londoners. :-)

Londoners also dress very well. Most wear long, beautiful, fitted coats, but I wished that they would wear more colors. Most wore black, brown, or navy. They also liked the tall boots that go click-clack across the pavement.

Talking to Chris Coleman, who is a leader of an evangelical congregation in London, he told me what I have heard from many others about Europe in general: there are few genuine believers left these days. I am now in Spain, and it seems that the same is true here. Some bartenders I was talking with last night said that most young people in Spain are nominally Catholic. They perhaps went to mass when they were children but no longer do because they see no need for religion. Crispin, the owner the bar/restaurant I´ve been hanging out at, said that he was never confirmed, and when he got married in the Catholic church, when the priest found out he had not been confirmed, he said, ¨ok, well now you´re confirmed.¨ Apparently it´s meaningless now. Religion does not seem relevant to many people. In fact, many see it as destructive. It has backed so much violence and laid the basis for so much ignorance, they would say. How do you reach people who believe that? How can these people come to believe that Jesus is more than relevant today? ... that He is necessary? It is possible, I know. I´ve just finished Blue Like Jazz by Donny Miller. The aim of this book seems to be to show people just like that that Christianity is relevant today. He went to school at Reed College in Portland, known as one of the most godless schools in the country, where there are very few Christians, and he has many insightful anecdotes about his interactions with people there.

Tomorrow I am visiting some missionaries in Madrid who are related to the Colemans. Maybe it will help me understand a little more about what Christians are doing in Europe, how they are relating to the people.