Stations York & Bolton

The above photograph was taken at York Railway Station. Built in the 1870s but much restored after the War on account of Germanic bombs, the structure is highly functional yet also beautiful. Not all train stations combine elegance and utility with such sanguinity; Bolton Station, below, with its large expanses of empty platform, piles of pigeon droppings and general feeling of abandonment, would make an excellent set for a horror film.

York’s ability to combine function with beauty is an apt picture of the Christian. The good works we do (for which, rather than by which we are saved) are lovely offerings made to God, while simultaneously rendering us useful to the kingdom. The indolent believer is made unattractive by the sparsity of his record; the weak believer is beautified by his earnest desire to bless and serve.

Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

1Peter 3:3-4, NKJV