Folks, we have reached the last Saturday morning of our trip, the second to the last day! This is big-time.
We started out by driving to Bedford, where John Bunyan served as pastor and was imprisoned for illegal public preaching. It was interesting to learn that the church he was a part of owned and met on the land where the current building was erected over 200 years later.
The building to the left of the sign is home to a museum about the life of John Bunyan, where we were not allowed to take pictures. It is separated from the church by a garden, of course.
The museum had several things that belonged to the Bunyan family, with exhibits about his early life that ended with a prison scene narrated by "Bunyan." I remember really thinking about the providence of God that day and the circumstances He allows. The narration talked about Bunyan's young daughter visiting him in prison and bringing him food, and it just made me sad. It made me wonder if staying in prison really was his only option. Being the daughter, wife, and mother of a pastor, I can't help but think about those things. Could things have been different for him? Could he have given up public preaching, been released from prison, and then continued to serve and teach secretly? Been there with his family and his church? I read this morning that Bunyan said, "If I was out of prison today, I would preach the gospel again tomorrow by the help of God." I also read that he didn't want to cause weaker brethren to flee by fleeing himself, so I guess that answers my questions. My main concluding thought that day in Bedford was if he had taken that route, the world might not have The Pilgrim's Progress. And Bunyan may not have been able to write so well about the hardships and suffering Christian had to endure to arrive at the Celestial City.
There were people milling about preparing for a wedding in the church that day, but we stepped inside for a brief look around. The front doors were amazing, with scenes carved from Pilgrim's Progress.
Inside we found a much more modern interior than in any other church we visited and beautiful stained glass windows with more scenes from Christian's journey.
This one is in honor of the 300th anniversary of the church
and uses the faces of Bunyan and another minister as Christian and Evangel.
This inscription is really sad but a lovely tribute.
When we first drove into Bedford we caught a glimpse of a statue of Bunyan at an intersection. We got a bit turned around, walking in the wrong direction, trying to find it later, but we eventually got there.
From Bedford we drove not too far down the road to Olney and the homes of William Cowper and John Newton. It was a day filled with the greats.
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