Well - Lived
By Jack Wyman
It was a shock. Then again, it wasn’t.
The world knew it would happen. It was inevitable yet it was also historic and transformative.
We simply didn’t think about it. Most of us don’t think much about what happens “across the pond.”
Seventy years is an entire lifetime. For Queen Elizabeth II it was the longest reign, not only in the United Kingdom but in the history of the world. When she died last week at age 96, it was a globe-riveting event. And no matter how much we paid attention, or didn’t, important history was still being made.
Unprecedented history.
In considering, we are reminded. We can learn again. Even from things that don’t affect us directly or personally. In the broadest and most ultimate sense, you and I are still citizens of the world. In this age of instant, high-tech communication and analysis, it is especially true.
There is a Christian perspective to the passing of this historic world figure. There is a Christian worldview to world events. We can always see them “Christianly.”
When Elizabeth ascended to the British throne in 1952, she was 25. During her time on the throne, she met with 13 American presidents, starting with Truman. She knew and worked with 15 English prime ministers, beginning with Churchill.
At the time of her death, she was the only head of state to have served in World War II.
Her son and successor, King Charles III, is 73.
These are amazing and impressive facts, rooted in self-effacing continuity.
Through the seven decades she served as queen, the world changed dramatically. Elizabeth also changed, but not as much. She saw it as her duty to remain a steadfast, dependable, and wise ruler of integrity. A defender of tradition. In this role, she offered a sense of stability and comfort to the British people.
They knew she was there, representing them, speaking for them, acting on their behalf, always with consummate and quiet dignity and grace, if even usually in a ceremonial way. The Queen was central to the national identity.
Queen Elizabeth led Great Britain through many national and global crises. She displayed compassion and sympathy in the midst of grief and loss. She also endured many of her own personal times of crisis and tragedy, including the sudden death of the popular Princess Diana.
She then learned anew the importance of suffering with a mourning nation, and letting her subjects know she felt their heartbreak. Three of her four children have gone through divorce, reminding us that even royals are mortal, and experience, albeit stoically, some of the same emotions as the rest of us.
Elizabeth never bragged. She never explained—she did no interviews—but she also never complained. She showed the world that being Queen of England was never about her. She did not seek it, didn’t want it; she inherited it. When it fell to her upon the untimely death of her noble father, she let it be known it was about service, devotion, loyalty, patriotism, and self-denial.
In February, 1947, on her 21st birthday, she told her nation:
“I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”
Virtually her whole life was spent in the public eye. Across the years, and in all she experienced and led through, she never betrayed bitterness, arrogance, or even a tinge of narcissism.
Queen Elizabeth reminds us that character counts. It animates leadership and always ends in a life well-lived. As the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, she let it be known to the world that her Christian faith informed and guided her life, gave her strength, comfort and wisdom, and made her a person of hope. Faith anchored her life as she anchored the life of her country.
America is a nation in the throes of division, animosity, and fear. We have become spiritually and morally unmoored. Though we are an independent nation and rightfully have no royalty, we often scorn tradition and seek something new and different; something secular, popular, and edgy. More than anything, we worship self. We are becoming a desperately ambitious, and self-gratifying people.
The Church of Jesus Christ is not immune from these post-modern beguilements. We live in culture as a fish lives in water. Our greatest danger of defilement is our sub-conscious acceptance.
Queen Elizabeth, in her long and quiet devotion to duty; in her humility and faithful service to her nation and the world, points us to a renewal of First Things—the ancient virtues and graces—rooted in the fruits of the Spirit, the life of Christ, and the denial of self.
The witness of history and tradition endears our hearts to God’s word.
The Bible is an ancient book. Christianity is an ancient faith. They speak of both permanence and transformation; tradition and newness of life; heavenly mystery and joyful regeneration; earthly bondage and future renewal.
Much more even than British royalty, the Bible and the unwavering faith it proclaims are not recent configurations, subject to popular vote or opinion polls. They are enduring in the cosmic firmament of God.
Though the whole world may seek strange signs and wonders; different gods, and a more comfortable and convenient way, the Christian rejoices in eternal hope, transcending love, abundant grace, irrepressible joy, and unchanging truth.
In her life and example, Queen Elizabeth shows us that integrity, honor, humility, faithfulness, and service remain the great timeless virtues of the Christian life.
“What doeth the Lord require of thee,” declares the prophet, “but to love mercy, do justly, and walk humbly with thy God” (Micah 6:8).
As was said of King David, so it may be said of this great queen of the British empire:
“And he died in a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor: and Solomon his son reigned in his stead” (I Chronicles 29:28).
Well-lived indeed.
To order Jack Wyman’s book, “Everything Else: Stories of Life, Faith and Our World”, go to amazon.com, Christian Book Distributors or barnesandnoble.com. It is also available on Kindle and eBooks.
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