The Queen is now with her King of Kings: Snippets of learning more about honour dynamics amidst the death of Her Majesty - Snippet 3

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As we continue in a series of 'snippets' from the honour contexts being heard in responses and reporting surrounding the world's mourning and memories of the late Queen Elizabeth II …..here is the next 'Snippet' and subsequent thoughts to ponder in relation to our own lives.

SNIPPET 3

The guard quoted in Snippet 2 went on to say:

"the other thing to remember she wasn't just a royal figurehead she was a veteran too…the fact that she was coming to look at us having served in the 2nd World War one of the very few that had still alive it meant something very deep to us."

In asking an Aussie who served as a royal maid for 14 months what she loved about the Queen…her answer:

"the ordinariness…her voice is so iconic, every time we hear it we know exactly who it is but hearing her talk about very ordinary things like a crossword clue or something on a quiz show or something mundane that happened in the day was a very 'pinch yourself' moment"

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was a Queen very connected to her people and her people knew it. They related to her so deeply not least when they knew though she was 'above' them, she was 'one of them', and that she had experienced and understood their own struggles and concerns and contexts. She was a Queen who was prepared to 'get her hands dirty' - literally! 

We loved and admired her all the more - not less - when we saw glimpses of her vulnerability. We loved and admired her profoundly when she submitted to COVID-19 protocols which meant she had to sit alone in the chapel for her husband's funeral. As was appropriate she shared in the limits her people had to endure. We liked to hear about what she liked to eat (marmalade sandwiches for example!), what leisure pursuits she enjoyed, what special name her great-grand-children called her. We valued her humanity.

SELAH - PAUSE TO PONDER

When Jesus came to earth born in humble circumstances and lived among us on this planet, ate what we ate, was hungry and thirsty like we get hungry and thirsty, slept like we need sleep, felt such sadness and loss when his friend Lazarus died, was tempted like we are tempted, had siblings that didn't understand him and ridiculed him, had friends who betrayed him and denied him, had religious leaders who hated him, who endured great suffering and walked the path of death, we feel an extra measure of comprehension that God understands our plight, our weaknesses, our struggles, and our 'smallness' and frailties and fears in the scheme of things.

Jesus was fully God, but he was also fully man - the second Adam. He knows us, identifies fully with us but also cares for us and loves us. His humanity doesn't lessen our love and honour for him, it deepens it.

Let us never forget, that unlike the African view of God as far detached and separate from humanity, Jesus has come into this world and as God in the flesh, has shown us what God is like. Our Yahweh God is Immanuel - God with us! Let us love and honour Him who identifies with us not just as an earthly monarch may, but who knows us most intimately even to our thoughts and yearnings.