Battle of Hasting 1066 and Other Subjects Worth Pondering

 Surrey - it says on the map - is a "designated area of outstanding natural beauty." What an understatement! We were in the county of Surrey the better part of the day. We wanted to make it worthwhile to spend the money to stay overnight.

SK looked on the map and found a place called "Hastings" nearby. I use the term "nearby" somewhat casually because it was within thirty miles (as the crow flies) of where we stayed, but there was no simple way to get there. We drove through some of the most beautiful forested areas I have ever seen. We both kept exclaiming about it, because we couldn't not. The greens, from light yellow green to the deepest darkest forest green was enough to assault your senses.

The trees are magnificent. The shrubs that line the roads, sometimes 12 or 15 feet tall are thick and dense, and would clearly be the winner in a tussle with a car. Sometimes they were dotted with pretty colorful flowers and other times just massive walls of leaves. The roads were narrow and winding, the countryside hilly. The speed limit on those barely-wide-enough-for-our-car roads was often 60....hair raising to say the least.

Just had to show you this sign....Netherfield! I felt like I was in a Jane Austen novel!



We wished we had set aside more time, but we saw great things in the few hours we had. We saw the Castle at Hastings. The history of the area goes back to the days of the Romans. You probably know that with the many wars and battles fought over the millennia, the history of the little city known as Hastings is amazing, yet there at the foot of the cliffs and hills and abutting the sea were small amusement parks. The neon and noise seemed jarring, juxtaposed against the weight of history.

The most important battle of course was there in 1066 when William the Conqueror trampled Harold - a Saxon, and restored the Normans as Rulers. The Castle was once a magnificent fortress presiding over the area around it, complete with chapel and dungeons. Now it is barely a shell, a few walls and an arch, a narrow stairway and a few stepping stones. At one point a great part of it crumbled into the sea, due to flooding and eroding cliffsides.


















We had little time to see the Abbey and battlefield eight miles away, and promised ourselves that we will return if possible to give it a more thorough going over. 

It was a glorious day to see the beauties of England, and to see those sights that are literally drenched in history. It is sobering, and it is glorious.

We got home in time for a planning meeting for future Institute classes this summer and then joined Institute. The lesson tonight was about the woman taken in adultery, and Jesus' response. Much has been written about it, and we could have easily gone over the hour we had. 

What I love about that account is the demonstration by Jesus of "costly love." He knew that the woman was simply a pawn, and that the angry men who brought her to him to be judged were only trying to destroy Him. If He had said, "Do not stone her," The Jews would have accused Him of ignoring The Law of Moses and would have discredited Him. If Jesus had said "Go Ahead and Stone her," The Romans would have arrested Him for murder.  Because it was against Roman law to stone someone, they would have blamed Jesus as the instigator.

With Jesus' reaction, He stepped between the angry mob and the woman, knowing full well that the men would be back soon even angrier than they were then, and more bent than ever on seeing Him destroyed. Suddenly now, the Pharisees are angry at Him, and not her.

In one of my favorite books by a Presbyterian minister raised in the middle east, Kenneth Bailey says, 

"She knows that Jesus' opponents will be back with a bigger stick and that Jesus is in process of getting hurt because of what he is doing for her. She is the recipient of a costly demonstration of unexpected love that saves her life. Jesus demonstrates the life-changing power of costly love. This scene provides an insight into Jesus' understanding of the significance of his own suffering. A core aspect of his 'doctrine of the atonement' is here displayed."

Between the beauties of nature, the heft of history and the gospel of Jesus Christ, today has been magnificent - by any measure.

Comments

melissa said…
What a soul-filling day. Wow!
July 4, 2021 at 12:08 AM
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