Every once in a while, I get sidetracked with the image that pops up on my laptop after pressing the power button. For a while, there would be this option to click on the top-right corner of the screen if you liked that image or not, most likely as a way to continue catering to whatever kind of pictures you prefer seeing as you dive into the technological world. But now, if you affirm the choice, the pre-selected search engine will then pop up with a list of sites to provide more information about that particular place.
And so, the distraction ensued with the Isle of Purbeck on the southern end of England, about 120 miles southwest of London, with a picturesque majesty that can’t quite be put into words (at least, not any words that I have at my mental disposal). The cliffs reveal their own awe-striking story with geological finds beyond comprehension, but then the distraction continued with a little chapel not far from the coastline, and yet easily overlooked from all the professional photography and the not-as-professional ones trying to take the perfect shot for their social media accounts.
A few hundred feet from what seems like the edge of the earth is St. Aldhelm’s Chapel, a rather tiny stone structure in the grand scheme of the majestic backdrop. Local legend has it that a bride and groom died just off the headland, where their boat was capsized. Out of the most immense grief imaginable, the father of the bride then built this small, but still most precious, chapel in their memory. He then paid for a light to shine out to those traveling in the surrounding waters, in hopes that their lives may be spared of a similar fate.
Whether the story is true or not, it serves as a fitting reminder of the calling for the church. The church that has its fair share of structures, physical and otherwise, that are crumbling in a variety of ways, but still somehow remains to shine a light of hope to all humanity. We are to be a beacon of compassion and hope and love to those enduring some of the choppiest waters imaginable in their respective mortal journeys. We are to be a piercing light of joy and beauty and grace to those wondering if there is anything beyond the tallest cliffs of pain and anguish and all-around disarray. Somehow, someway, the church is still standing to be a most precious glimpse of the flame that was set loose on the world in Jesus Christ, that not even sin and death stood a chance to quench that most breath-taking Gospel. So, for a little chapel on the edge of the world, to our own humble abode at Divinity, and everywhere else in between, thanks be to God, indeed!
In Christ,
Pastor Brad
For more information about the Isle of Purbeck, please visit:
https://www.dorsets.co.uk/purbeck