Plucked from the Flames

Our journey today took us back to where it all began – Epworth and the home of John Wesley. The Wesley family lived in the church rectory with their 10 children. Father Samuel was not the most popular parish priest and some to this day believe that it was arson, but for whatever reason and however it was started, the family home burned to the ground in 1709 when John was 5 years old. This story is particularly significant because John was nearly killed in the fire when he was stranded on the 2nd floor and was (as all of the literature states), 'plucked from the flames just before the roof caved in.' John's mother Susanna beleived that John had been saved for a special purpose.

Our tour of the rebuilt rectory and home allowed many different insights and examples of what life was like for the Wesley family growing up in Epworth and how Susanna impacted not only John in his spiritual life but also how she helped to pave the path for women in church and society...insisting that her daughters and all girls should learn to read and write before being put to work.

The gardens on this property are beautiful and the herbs in the back are planted specifically for the different healing remedies that John wrote about in a book on homespun cures that John wrote in 1747 after many years of working and helping the poor. John himself lived to be 89 which is good by today's standards but was basically unheard of in his time, so there was clearly something to his approach on health and wellness.

Once we returned to York, it was all about exploring the city and attending Evensong services at the York Minster- the largest Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe. Nearly 1000 years old and completely awe-inspiring in terms of size, scale and stained glass, it was hard to sit through the service without our mouths gaping open. In the Anglican Church Evensong - or evening prayer service - is about 80% singing (by the far more talented choir), including the prayers, so hearing it in a cathedral with ceilings that reach 150 feet is unbelievable. It is also cool to see the choir with the young kids learning to be a part of the tradition and watching them proceed so seriously down the aisle, then see them push each other as they file into their row.

Tomorrow is a free day in York, so expect more action shots and lots of scenery from the walls that surround this ancient city!