The Pulpit

A couple of weekends ago, Harriet and I went over to my Parents' house in Rutland for the weekend. After seeing some dear friends on Friday night, we arrived at my parents ready for a day out on Saturday.

We went as planned to a place called Peckover House in Cambridgeshire (a Georgian property run by the National Trust) and ended up in Cambridge absolutely stuffing ourselves at a great restaurant called Cau. I massively recommend it - just don't eat as much as I did when I went there...

In between, we decided to head over to Ely, as it was nearby and Harriet had never been there before. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ely, it lies on a raised area (known historically as the "Isle of Ely") in the middle of the Fens - a large area of low-lying drained marshland in the east of England. Because Ely is a few metres above sea level, it can be seen from miles around with its iconic cathedral sticking out like a beacon, drawing you in.

Most cathedral cities in the UK are really nice places. Harriet and I live in one (Lichfield) and walks down to the cathedral are not uncommon. Ely is no exception to this rule and has picturesque stone buildings all around the town, making you think you have gone back in time.

Once in the cathedral, we made our way round admiring the stained-glass windows and architecture. All around the building were little sheets of laminated paper, explaining different effigies and shedding some light on what things meant. One in particular stood out to me:

This sign made me think of our pulpit at our church (definitely less ornate!). It is interesting to see that the most uplifting things said from our pulpit are always the ones where the speaker expounds upon the gospel and how we can use it to better our lives and the lives of others. Whenever this is not the case, the spirit does not attend and no one goes away feeling uplifted or edified.

Having thought about this for the past couple of weeks since our visit, it has given me a determination to make sure whenever I am given a talking assignment at church, that I will seek to put my own musings aside and fulfil my responsibility to point others to Christ.