Liverpool, Beatles, Elvis

What do Liverpool, the Beatles and Elvis have in common?

Well all you have to do is visit the Albert Dock in Liverpool and follow the signs and you will soon find yourself amist a mega amount of Beatlemania.
Most of the world knows that the Beatles fame was born in Liverpool. This city has christened every corner they stood on, every club they sang in, every school they attended, every job they ever worked at........
and at the Albert Dock they have created museums in their honor.

Yesterday was our day between groups so we went to Liverpool and the Beatles Museums. Actually, it was quite fun. The Beatles Story is housed in two different buildings and is rather well done. Basically their story is one of the destructive powers of fame and fortune. They were young kids -- 14 and 15 -- when they began their careers and fame swept them up before they really knew who they were or what was important.....and in the end.....it destroyed them.

But, that aside, their music makes your toes tap and you find yourself singing along. When you walk through the Yellow Submarine you just can't help bouncing to the music.

New to me was their affinity with Elvis. He was their inspiration and because he came along just a few years ahead of them, he became their idol and the king of rock and roll. In the end Elvis had 20 Number 1 hits and The Beatles had 18 but together they dominated the music world for many years!

......and so they have also erected an Elvis museum that will begin to travel when it leaves Liverpool in 2013. And to think we saw it here!

But more that all of that is the statue that has been erected by the church on the Liverpool dock where your ancestors and mine left their native land and followed the counsel of a prophet to join the saints in Zion and help build the kingdom of God.

My own great grandmother who, at the age of 12, sailed from Liverpool in 1856, wrote, "We came to Liverpool and went on board the ship, Horizon, that evening. It was a sailing vessel and there were nearly nine hundred souls on board. I well remember how we watched old England fade from site. We sang, "Farewell our Native land Farewell".

I must admit, I felt that familiar lump in my throat as I looked out towards the sea and thought of my dear little grandmother and my many other grandparents who made such remarkable sacrifices. They and many like them saved the church at a time when it was in trouble. Mobs raged, testimonies faltered, discouragement was rampant and these faithful English saints who lined up at the Liverpool docks, left everything, and infused new faith, new commitment and remarkable courage into this struggling band on the American continent. The church grew and flourished with their help and today -- well, how can we ever thank them!

Looking to the future and hanging on to the past.....