We had one more morning in Edinburgh before boarding the ship today.
While others slept and enjoyed leisurely breakfasts at the hotel, I went to the cemetery.
Not just any cemetery but Grange Cemetery.
Within Grange Cemetery are the graves of some great kingdom men and women.
Thomas Nelson, Sr. and Thomas Nelson, Jr. are buried in the far northwest corner of the cemetery. Thomas Nelson, Sr. founded the publishing company that has become the largest Christian publisher in the world.
Next to Nelson is the grave of Hugh Miller, a Scottish stone mason, who although self-taught, became one of the most respected geologists in the world while at the same time one of the most influential churchmen in the movement to establish the Free Church of Scotland. More about Miller on Monday.
A little farther down from Miller, at the north wall of the cemetery, Thomas Chalmers and his family are buried. Chalmers was one of Scotland’s greatest theologians and fought with Miller to establish the Free Church of Scotland.
A little more difficult to find because it is not listed on the legend at the entrance to the cemetery was the grave of Robert Young, not the Robert Young of Father Knows Best but the Robert Young of Young’s Literal Translation of the Bible.
By submitting their lives to King Jesus and the advancement of His kingdom, these men chose a purpose that transcended their lives.
When we got onto the ship and headed out to sea I noticed we felt the waves more than in the bigger ocean cruise ships in which we had previously cruised. It is true the bigger the ship the less you are affected by the waves.
Then I thought back on the lives of those buried in Grange Cemetery. Hugh Miller died at age 54, Thomas Chalmers at 67, and Robert Young was barely 66. Their lives were but a minute in the context of history. But the kingdom of God is a big ship. It survived Nero, HItler, and it will survive secularism and Islamic terrorism. Most importantly it transcends our short lives.
Those who live their lives chasing money, careers, and fame, have chosen small boats. And small waves, like a downturn in the economy, or an unreasonable or incompetent boss, can send the boat to the bottom of the sea.
Over the next eight days we will explore the lives of people who chose the largest of ships and by doing so helped ensure that ship would get safely to shore. GS