National mourning/thanksgiving

When I was seven I shall never forget the head teacher coming into our village school classroom and solemnly announcing that King George VI had died. For the first time I became aware of the monarchy in a personal way, and in the following months as we prepared for the coronation of Elizabeth II, like all school children, we were plunged into creativity, making crowns, painting posters, hearing about golden carriages and fine palaces.  The coronation itself was, of course, a great occasion, even if we had no black and white television to see it. .As a child I didn't understand much of the significance of our form of government with crown and parliament in tandem.  Later, especially when we lived in the US, did I realize more fully how unusual our democratic history and form of government is. 

But 70 years later as the nation mourns the loss of Queen Elizabeth, I really want to share in thanksgiving, for her qualities of service, duty, decency,  integrity, and so much more as she has exercised this extraordinary role.  But best of all, it is her Christian faith for which I truly thank God which, of course, explains her qualities of service.  In our morning worship we had a minutes quiet reflection when a series of slides were shown featuring key sentences from past Christmas addresses.  It was quite wonderful to see her affirmation of faith and hope in Jesus Christ and her willingness to share the message with the nation.  We are grateful for a woman of transparent faith who lived her long life in the glare of the international spotlight as a servant of Christ.