Posted 9/22/03
CYBERCOLUMN:
The bridge
By John Duncan
I am sitting here under the old oak tree, wondering about a bridge. The musical duo Simon and Garfunkle used to sing “Bridge Over Troubled Waters.” Early this morning while biking, I stopped on the bridge near the lake not too far from the old oak tree. But the bridge I am thinking of is in Cambridge, England.
If you travel to Cambridge, you will discover a center point in the middle of the city. The “city center” as the locals call it, swirls with activity. Near the city’s center you will find a GAP, a Marks and Spencer store for buying groceries, and a market square where you can purchase fresh flowers, a T-shirt for approximately $18, and Doc Martin’s sandals for half the price you can buy them in America. Walk a short distance, and you will find Borders, Starbucks and McDonald’s. The world shrinks, and suddenly everything starts looking the same, no matter where you travel. The college students gather at McDonald’s for lunch, so you if you are hungry, you will want to beat the rush by arriving before 11:30.
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| John Duncan |
Walk past McDonald’s and stand on Trinity Street. Look to your left, and you will find one the world’s most recognizable architectural wonders—King’s College. If you toured King’s College with a guide, you would hear about the chapel and the mischievous stories of college students who climbed the spires like rock climbers and placed umbrellas at the highest point, some 100 feet in the air.
Walk to your right, and you will journey toward Trinity College. The neatly manicured Great Court fascinates. The field looks like a beautiful carpet of green. Spend two British pounds on the brochure that explains the buildings, history and the grandeur of all that is Trinity College. You will be interested in knowing movie producers filmed portions “Chariots of Fire” in the courtyard. The running scene where the two runners sprint around the courtyard enlivens the movie. When I traveled to Cambridge with my family last spring, we rented the movie. Why not rent the movie? I love that great line in the movie, Eric pleading with his sister about his duel call of missionary work and running Olympic races. He says: “God made me fast. And when I run I feel his (God’s) pleasure.” Take Cambridge slow. Find something in life to feel God’s pleasure.
Trinity College houses numerous treasures in the Wren Library—an eighth century copy of the epistles of Paul and an original manuscript of “Winnie the Pooh.” Walk beyond the library and the New Court and over the bridge where, beneath, lies the River Cam. Remember, we speak of a bridge, and Cambridge displays many bridges over the River Cam, including the historical Mathematical Bridge, originally built with only wood and a flawless design. Across the bridge you will find an ice cream truck. By all means, buy an ice cream cone. It sure tastes good!
Exit Trinity College and walk down Trinity Street to Saint John’s College. Saint John’s holds three courts. Architectural professionals refer to the Gothic design of the buildings as the “Wedding Cake.” Walk through the tree courts, and you will again stand on a bridge. Across the bridge and over the River Cam you will find what the locals call the Backs, a beautiful floral walking path that produces breathtaking postcards from behind the colleges.
As you view the Backs, look below the bridge and you will see students and tourists punting. No, punting is not football, but rather a journey on the River Cam in a canoe-like boat.
Stand on the bridge and note the Kitchen Bridge and the infamous Bridge of Sighs, a bridge modeled after one in Venice, Italy. Turn around, and you will see the River Cam and bridge after bridge, stone bridges made fixed in symmetrical form near perfection. The bridges have withstood walkers, bikers, rain, storms and the test of time. How can you cross the River Cam without a bridge?
Study the center point of each bridge. You will find a triangular stone called a “keystone.” The keystone locks the bridge into place. It holds the bridge together. Remove the keystone, and the bridge will crumble.
Today I am sitting here under the old oak tree, thinking of a bridge with its keystone, Jesus Christ. He locks my life into place, creating stability when a river of turmoil swirls in the world below. Jesus holds my life together. Jesus keeps my life from crumbling. In him, I can cross over one day into that glorious land with streets of gold and fields with carpets of green. Ah, the King will be there. And I can walk in the glory of all that is in the King’s domain. Peace fills my soul.
I think of Jesus, the Bridge, and I recall Jesus’ words, “My peace I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (Matthew 14:27).
Suddenly old Augustine’s prayer comes to mind: “O Lord God, grant us peace, for all that we have is your gift. Grant us the peace of repose, the peace of the Sabbath, the peace which has no evening.”
Oh, did I tell you the sun shone high in Cambridge? Did I mention it was the middle of the day? Do you think we taste delicious ice cream in heaven? Have you stood on a bridge? Is the Bridge in you?
John Duncan is pastor of Lakeside Baptist Church in Granbury, Texas, and the writer of numerous articles in various journals and magazines
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