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Hey...what's up everyone. It has been quite some time since I have blogged and I am actually home now. I arrived home safely last night. Let me fill you in on my London experiences and my times with my fam in Provence and Paris. First, I have something to say about the tube blasts in Central London. I stayed in London June 21-24, then I came back on the night of the 5th and flew out of Heathrow on the morning of the 6th. The blast occured between 8:50 am and about 9:20 am this morning, July 7th. I was headed to the airport via the tube at 7:40 am on the 6th and arrived there at about 9 am. That means I was there almost exactly 25 hours before this happened. When I first stayed in London from the 21-24, I stayed in a flat belonging to some friends of the Weavers, whom I will introduce briefly. This flat is located near Russell Square, in extremely close proximity to where the bus explosion occured. Moreover, the three days in which I was staying at the flat, the tube station that I used was Russell Square Station. One of the three explosions in the tube lines was in between the Russell Square Station and King's Cross. This was a line which I was constantly on. On the night of the 5th, I stayed with the Weaver's and the closest tube stop to them is the Warren Street Station, which I used coming and going to there flat and which I used on the morning of the 6th to go to Heathrow. The Warren Street Station does not connect directly to any of the bombing targets, but is within several minutes proximity to each target. All of this is to stay that I was just recently in each of these places that was bombed, which to me feels eerie...it shook me the moment I heard about it. If the bombings would have occured 25 hours earlier, I would have been in the thick of it. I would not have been in the exact locations of the bombings, but would have been extremely close and would have probably been close enough to hear the blasts. This brings many thoughts to mind. For example, we live in a society that demands its rights be fulfilled. But in reality, we are guarenteed nothing. We have no inalienable rights. Our rights are not inborn. It is all given to us. We are
given Grace and granted Mercy. We should be thankful for the air we breath and the people we love. We are not promised safety. What about a relationship with God is safe? We think it is safe and many have flocked to God for safety, myself included. God offers it in measures, but safety is never a promise...not here...not on Earth. What Jesus promises us is the opposite...suffering and persecution. So this makes me think about our demands to be safe and for our rights. It also triggers the thought that we are in the midst of a battle. There are two sides and many try to choose the middle, which is no man's land...its non-existant. But we try to pretend like it's there. I am talking about the unseen battle between Heaven and Hell. No, before you start to think I am crazy like the Left Behind authors...hear me out. The terrorists are bringing the war to our living rooms, into Joe Schmoes life. We have historically, since WWII, tried to avoid attack at home, which sounds like a smart think to me. But recently, we have perverted this into a blindness of what is really happening in the world and in what I will call "reality" or the battle between Heaven and Hell. We want to act like there is no spiritual battle going on, but there is. Wow, I could stay on my soapbox and say much more about this, but I must cut this blog short, or long for that matter. I will blog about my time in London and France in the next several days. If anyone wants to talk to me about this, feel free...I'd love to. Peace out.
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Eric Bowen
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But for the grace of God
Dan, Welcome home. Just last night I was reminded of how I had stopped in Oklahoma City on my way home to Texas and eaten at a restaurant in the shadow of the Federal building. Less then 20 hours later the Oklahoma City bombing happened. The sensation it caused in me was literally physical. An oppressive heaviness as well as na anger I couldn’t really describe, and even guilt. I was not a believer at the time but I remember also feeling righteousness in my outrage that I wish I felt more sometimes. We come to accept the subtle encroachment of evil in our lives in ways that inoculate us. It takes bigger and bigger outrages to get us to get up on the proverbial soap box and speak out against it. It makes me understand how the German people could look the other way as unspeakable atrocities were committed under their very noses, or Rwanda, Bosnia, what we have done to blacks and native Americans in this country. Well brother, I won't let you be lonely up there on that soap box. When you really think about it we aren't standing on a soap box, were just standing up for what we say we believe and hopefully being reminded of what we are called to be. Again, welcome home and I look forward to formerly meeting you. Eric