By Frances George
Abigail Adams, wife of United States President John Adams, once wrote about an event, that it was “beyond the reach of my pen.”
Baylor has multiple opportunities for its students to travel abroad during the year. Our daughter just completed her summer study abroad in London with Baylor. Our family joined Catherine at the conclusion of her study in London and traveled to France for an additional adventure, exploring the remarkable sites in the beautiful city of Paris.
Over this past weekend, once home from our adventures, as Catherine was processing to me all she had seen and learned before heading back for her senior year, I quickly realized that I would want to share this with the current Baylor Family and with prospective students.
As Catherine spoke and filled the canvas of my mind with her summer study, the Abigail Adams quote kept coming to mind. She would speak and then fall silent, in deep thought, the occasional tear would stream down her face as she contemplated the sheer magnitude of all she had learned and as she verbalized her thoughts. The experience was almost beyond the reach of her “mind’s” pen.
And as she spoke, though words sometime seemed inadequate and hard to express, after many musings, suddenly she looked at me and summed the experience up in one phrase: “I realized, it’s what takes place inside that counts.”
While in Paris, our family visited Versailles. The sheer volume of square footage, the artwork, too numerous to count, the “passageway” famously known as the Hall of Mirrors, the seemingly endless statues, busts and monuments to a man, gardens beyond belief in detail and expanse and the gilding of practically everything in sight… it is breathtaking.
Just a few days earlier, Catherine had concluded her time among the Baylor students with a tour of Buckingham Palace, a lifelong dream of Catherine’s. The palace did not disappoint. As she listened to the recorded message by The Prince of Wales at the beginning of the tour, he mentioned that this was his home for most of his childhood and is still home today to the Queen, his mother. It is a working palace and yet, very much a private home.
As Catherine described in detail these two magnificent structures, she said, “Mom, as phenomenal as Versailles was, it’s a museum now. No one lives there. Buckingham Palace may be far less grand and even a little plain by comparison, but a family still resides within the walls. It’s a home. I liked it better than Versailles. And then I thought of our own home, even more greatly diminished in grandeur than Buckingham Palace, and yet, it’s home and where we have all of our happiest memories within our little walls. The real beauty is found inside a home, and its magnificence is determined by what happens there. I know, perhaps, you are ‘supposed’ to prefer Versailles, but for me, I realized, it’s what takes place inside that counts.”
Catherine came to the same conclusion when she visited the magnificent Westminster Abby and St. Paul’s Cathedral, attending services in both. She was awed by each cathedral’s stone and marble of varied shapes and sizes, all perfectly fashioned and pieced together coupled with the majesty, pomp and exquisite music of each service. The students had practically front row seats at Westminster at the Sunday service they attended. It was an incredible experience, and she said she learned from each message she heard.
And yet, as she reflected on the two cathedrals, she said, “Mom, as beautiful as they both were, I found myself missing my church in Waco and hearing the Word taught and music sung that makes me want to be a better person and more like Jesus today. Our church in Waco is a plain ‘box,’ and we are all dressed pretty casually each week, but it’s what takes place inside that counts. I can hardly wait to get home to Waco and my church.”
When she finished, she looked up at me with tears and said, “Thank you Mom for this trip. Thank for giving me the trip of a lifetime.”
I said, “There’s a scripture that goes with what you are saying: ‘Man looks at the outside, but God looks at the heart.’ All that you have seen has broadened your world and expanded your horizons. These are all good things. But by seeing so much, you’ve also made the most important discovery in life.”
Indeed, the trip of a lifetime. I liked what I saw when I looked at my daughter. As I listened to Catherine, I saw a new strength, a new confidence. She appreciated the beauty of the master craftsmen who built these incredible structures. She fell in love with the late-night talks and adventures (!) with friends in London and Paris cafés and can hardly wait to return and see more and learn even more! She also fell in love with Parisian style and has a few new pieces in her wardrobe now that reflect her refined sense of femininity that she saw and fell in love with on the streets of Paris.
But at the end of the day, she had the realization that for all the outward beauty she observed over the past month, “It’s what takes place inside that counts.” The beauty of all she saw was not diminished by this realization but actually heightened. Catherine now possesses a deeper understanding of the definition of true beauty as she stood face to face with the pinnacle of the world’s beauty. She recognized true beauty in palaces, true beauty in cathedrals and, most importantly, where to find true beauty in life…it’s inside.
And as she spoke, I found myself being once again grateful for Baylor. You see, Catherine’s deep and profound sense of what matters most has been nurtured and taught at Baylor. She hears it from her professors. She was mentored in this during her study abroad with her professor who led the trip with his kind and encouraging manner. She sees it in ministries on campus, like Vertical, that shepherd the students to walk well through life. And she hears it each week at her church, Highland, as John Durham, “JD Waco” as we call him in North Carolina, opens up the Word each week and challenges the students to do all things with eternity in view.
Baylor’s study abroad is so much more than the phenomenal teaching, writing, exploration and reflection that takes place in countries around the globe. It is the opportunity to watch all that Baylor represents on its Waco campus come to fruition in the hearts and minds of its students while they study around the world.
Baylor understands “It’s what takes place inside that counts” and they strive every day on so many levels, on campus and, literally, around the world, to make sure the inside of a Baylor student is as lovely and strong as the outside.
If this type of “interior/exterior” design and palatial study is important to you, then Baylor is the place you’ll want to call home. Psalm 144:12, “Let our sons in their youth be as grown up plants and our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace,” reminds me of the magnificent gardens and palace at Versailles. But today, this verse reminds me of the myriad of students I know at Baylor. Because, this summer’s study abroad, just like every day on campus, where students become magnificent structures ready to make a difference, is just another example of what I always call…
… “The Baylor Difference.”