Great Stairs: Lit & Phil

The Lit & Phil is a world-famous public library in the heart of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. As my header suggests, it has a suitably grand entrance and staircase, befitting so prestigious a seat of enquiry. Even the incandescent lightbulb, that symbol of good ideas, was first demonstrated here by Sir Joseph Wilson Swan back in 1879. Within, shelves groan under the weight of countless tomes, while diligent students and concentrating pensioners occupy ancient wooden desks. A gaggle of Newcastle’s intelligentsia was sitting at one table with cups of tea and coffee discussing this and debating that. There was a nice atmosphere, and the architecture helped to create it. Had providence seen fit to make me a denizen of that great city, this is one of the places I should have been pleased to haunt.

Back to those stairs. A portrait of Earl Grey looms down from the right. On another side, one Revd William Turner, local bigwig and Unitarian minister, peers down. He points to a book -is it the Bible? He was an advocate of the Bible Society, but as a Unitarian, he surely denied its message and dismissed its major claims, much like most literature and philosophy. How human wisdom ignores, sidelines or disputes heaven’s revelation!

How many serious and articulate minds have repaired to the Lit & Phil to research something or other, but have had no time for eternal, revealed truth? The main rooms are illuminated by gigantic and graceful skylights, admitting clear daylight to the space below. Whatever your education and knowledge base, have a regard for God’s word, for that alone will be worth remembering when the pages fade and minds grows dull.