Dear Friends
I am writing this letter on the eve of The Queen’s funeral. Like me, you may been unsurprised by her death (she was 96 after all) but shocked by the speed of it. Only 2 days earlier (on the Tuesday) she had met our new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, at Balmoral to invite her to form a new government. By the Thursday, she had died. But death, as I often say at funerals I take, is a shocking thing – whether we have been expecting it or not. Nothing can ever quite prepare us for the moment that someone we know and love dies, as I have been reminded this summer by my own mother’s death.
Central to the Queen’s life of duty and service to our nation, Commonwealth and world has been her Christian faith. Whilst this has been quietly present in the background for many years, in more recent times she has been much more vocal about it. In her Christmas Day speech in 2002, she said this:
“I know just how much I rely on my faith to guide me through the good times and the bad. Each day is a new beginning. I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, to give of my best in all that the day brings, and to put my trust in God…I draw strength from the message of hope in the Christian gospel.”
I wonder if we could say something similar to the Queen about our own lives, that our faith in God is our guiding light and inspiration? I have certainly found my faith to be hugely significant in shaping my life and a great source of hope and comfort, though the ups and downs of it all.
With my prayers and best wishes.
Jeremy Tear
Pioneer Team Rector
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