Friday, June 3, 2022

A ROYAL REIGN!

Royal Reign. An appropriate BBC title. 
 

Across the ocean it's a weekend of celebration as Queen Elizabeth II is honored with her Platinum Jubilee.
70 years---quite a milestone. Quite an airshow! 

As the royal pomp continues from concerts and street parties, I'm grateful that a service at  St. Paul's was part of the schedule. Part of the reason the monarch has "prospered" has been seen by many as her commitment to her faith. She has emphasized family values of spiritual and moral ideas. 
For me, this has been especially true in her Christmas messages. Most times those pre-recorded televised messages which I saw focused on family both hers personally and the family of man who could respond to the needs of the "lonely, the sick and the elderly"---often children were mentioned and in 1989 she spoke to children at the end of the message. Hope and peace permeated her messages and Christians throughout the world could  recognize Jesus the one who is our Hope and our Peace. At the start of the new millennium, she reflected on the role of faith in communities & 2001 spoke of the importance of faith when drawing strength in troubled  times & comfort she received from her faith during a year of personal loss of her mother (Queen Mother) and sister, Princess Margaret. In 2002 she spoke of reliance during times of loss of "message of hope"  in the Christian gospel. In '04 she sent a separate radio Christmas message to UK troops. More and more through the years she became more personal and more focused on her faith, including references to Jesus' birth, (2007) and leading charitable lives in service to others. In 20015 she encouraged all to find hope in "moments of darkness" and quoted the Gospel of John saying 'light shines in darkness and the darkness has not overcome it' and encouraged all to be thankful....as she promised servant during the Pandemic as she evoked the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Her reign has become more royal through the years as she's recognized her spiritual lineage as a daughter of the true King!
As children of the One True King, we have our own royal reign---just without the all the trappings!