Thought for the Week - 11th September 2022

 

Dear Friends, 

I’m sure like me, you will have been saddened to hear the news of the death of HM The Queen on Thursday 8th September. Queen Elizabeth II reigned for 70 years and in that time saw many changes and advances in her lifetime. She has been described as the constant presence in all our lives for so many decades and it seems strange to think that she will no longer be there as this stabilising but also much loved figure in our public life. As I reflected on the news my overwhelming sense was one of gratitude and thanks for a woman who dedicated her life to the service of this nation and the Commonwealth and who, even as her health was failing, continued to faithfully carry out her duties as Queen. In the book entitled Our Faithful Queen published for the Platinum Jubilee which we celebrated earlier this year, there are various quotes and reflections for the young queen to consider as she approached her Coronation in 1953, the first of which was a prayer from the Bible, ‘Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long’ (Psalm 25:4-5). The Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, Geoffrey Fisher, then added these words for her to say and ponder over as she prepared for her Coronation at Westminster Abbey. The whole of life is a journey to God. In its course are many lesser journeys taken for many different purposes. Sometimes the Bible records special journeys undertaken for special purposes in answer to a call from God… Such will be my journey to Westminster. It will be undertaken in obedience to a call from God. Many will remember the Queen’s Coronation on that wet day in June 1953, or perhaps will have seen the event as a recording on the television, showing the physical journey which she took to go to Westminster Abbey to make her promises to fulfil her vow of service and duty. Now soon, our beloved Queen will take her final journey, back to the Abbey where she committed her life before God asking for people to pray for her with these words, Pray that God may give me wisdom and strength to carry out the solemn promises I shall be making, and that I may faithfully serve him and you, all the days of my life. I think we can agree that God has answered this prayer, that she has fulfilled her promises, and now we pray, ‘May she rest in peace and rise in glory.’ You may have seen pictures and reports that around the time of the announcement of the death of the Queen a rainbow appeared in the sky at Windsor and a double rainbow at Buckingham Palace. In the Bible the rainbow represents God’s promise to all humankind as we read, ‘And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth… Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth”’ (Genesis 9:12-13, 16). The rainbow signifies God’s faithfulness and mercy and is a reminder for us all just how great God’s love for us is.

Grace and peace,

Neil

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