A Taste of the Holy & History: Glasgow

Glasgow Bagpiper
WHAT BENNIE'S BEEN DOING: Weeks 5-6 
(Scotland/England, Ireland, France!)

Part 2: Glasgow

 On Sunday, September 23, I traveled from Iona back to Glasgow to meet David, who was arriving after leaving Kentucky on Saturday, the 22nd.  We thoroughly enjoyed the food and ambiance of the hotel we stayed at connected to the Scottish Bagpipe Museum!  Unfortunately, however, the museum was closed for renovation :(  

Bagpipe Museum & Piper's Tryst

That said, there are bagpipers playing on the street everywhere in Scotland, so we still got to hear plenty 'o bag-piping anyway... such as the bagpiper in full bag-piping gear above - only one of many whom we saw and heard while walking the streets of Glasgow and Edinburgh!

Since the bagpipe museum was closed, that gave us plenty of time to explore Glasgow. Highlights included:

 The University of Glasgow where Disciple founders Thomas and Alexander Campbell both attended... As well as a few other famous peeps like: the father of economics Adam Smith and renowned physicist and engineer Lord Kelvin.
University of Glasgow Main Entrance

Glasgow Cathedral: Built in the 12th Century, the cathedral has found a way to change with the times, allowing worship to continue within its walls for over 800 years! In fact, there were times it housed three different congregation's within it's walls in order to stay relevant to the spiritual changes of history. If only people could be as flexible as buildings!

Glasgow Cathedral

Also in the basement of the cathedral is St. Mungo's Tomb. St. Mungo is the patron saint of Glasgow because he was the first to bring Christian faith there in the 6th century.
Saint Mungo's Tomb

Next to the cathedral is the Glasgow Museum of Religious Life and Art. It includes artifacts and history of all religions, not just Christianity. We loved it so much that it will need a whole post all by itself once we return. But, for now, here is a sampling of the various art:
"Untitled" by John Bellany
Christ is crucified on an anchor-shaped cross
Inspired by Bellany growing up in a fishing village
  

The Sabbath Candles by Dora Holzhandler
"The Attributes of Divine Perfection" by Ahmed Moustafa
The Cubes bear the 99 divine attributes of God in Arabic calligraphy
 

Shiva as Nataraja (Lord of the Dance)
The Hindu God Shiva subduing 10,000 heretical holy men
by dancing over the Demon of Ignorance!

Buddha
(Sorry, I failed to document the historical info on this one - sigh!)

Finally, Glasgow also included an accidental expedition that ended in David discovering the largest drum shop in Scotland, "Drummers Only!" :)

Drummer's Only Drum Shop - Largest in all of Scotland!

I can't wait to show the guys in the band!!!

That's all for now... more to come!