09/09/2022
Archbishop Stephen gave the Pause for Thought on BBC Radio 2 this morning
I speak to you this morning with a heavy heart. I’m sure many of us will be feeling the same way. It will take a long time to come to terms with the death of our beloved Queen Elizabeth.
At times like this the right words are hard to find. But let me turn first to some moving words of Her Majesty the Queen herself. "Each day is a new beginning”, she said in one of her Christmas broadcasts, “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."
How she has lived this out!
But today is a new and hard beginning for our nation. United in our loss and love, we grieve the passing of our Queen.
In 1947, aged 21, she made this profound commitment "I declare before you all that my whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service.”
Now, at the end of a long, happy and glorious reign, we can say, good and faithful servant this promise has been fulfilled. Depart in peace. And we begin to look forward, praying for King Charles and for our nation.
And at the heart of her commitment, and throughout her long reign, her deep and abiding faith in God, the God who is known to us in Jesus Christ, kept her going. May it keep us going too.
“I am the resurrection and the life” said Jesus to Martha who was mourning the death of her brother, “Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
Her majesty the Queen lived and served and died in this Christian faith and with this great hope in Christ.
May she rest in peace and rise in glory.
And may each of us rise to the challenge of her glorious example.
