JUBILEE
“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them…” Ecclesiastes 12
For some, Robert Louis Stevenson was right when he was referring to this matter of youth, growing up, and looking into the future: “It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive.”
Time marches on for all of us. The years fly by. Philosophically, there comes a realisation (usually about middle life) that nothing, including us, lasts forever. We are born, we grow, hopefully we flourish for a time, and then we fade. God did not create us to be here on earth forever. He has given the precious, but transitory, gift of life on this earth, and wants us to make the very most of the time we have.
So when it comes to a Diamond Jubilee celebration, let us consider 60 years. It is a magnificent achievement. Many of us have never known any other British monarch, the Queen has been an ever present symbol of stability in the life of our nation. Whether you are a royalist, a republican or aren’t bother we have to give credit were credit is due, that the example of service and dedication that the Queen embodies is incredible. If we really think about it would we be prepared to fulfil a role or job for 60 years?
When I received my MBE a couple of years ago, one of the things that struck me was that the Queen stood for the best part of an hour and a half, she talked to over 100 people, each one with the same interest as the next, be they 1st in the queque or 120th! Whether they were a powerful politician, famous celebrity or charity fund raiser from South Wales. Every recipient was of equal value and importance as far as the Queen was concerned. All this and she was 84 years old and didn’t flag once!
The Queen has dedicated her life to the service of God and this nation and commonwealth, for her it is not a job or role, but a vocation, a calling. This is what, I believe, we are celebrating at the Diamond Jubilee: the ideas of service, commitment, self sacrifice, the desire to work for the good of all and the love of and for God. God has given the Queen and us the transitory and precious life, may she and we make the very best of what we are and the time we have.
So in this nation that has known God’s blessing over thousands of years, let the young rejoice in their youth and remember their Creator while they are still young; let the middle-aged rejoice in where they are in their time-line; and let the old rejoice, along with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, and Prince Philip, the husband who has stood by her side for more than sixty years. We have so much to be thankful for.
May we be thankful that the Lord has given us such a wonderful woman, under God, to reign over us so diligently for so long. May she know the Lord’s mighty blessing upon her and hers – and upon us and ours, that we may be godly and quietly governed, as the 1662 Prayer Book says!
Thy choicest gifts in store
On her be pleased to pour;
Long may she reign;
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen!
The Rector