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Good morning.

I was 6 years old in June 1952 and have a very clear recollection that one of my regular afternoons in the cinema with my aunt, watching cowboy films was seriously disrupted by lengthy newsreels about the coronation of Queen Elizabeth.  I wasn’t very pleased but even I grasped that something important was happening and I was impressed by the pageantry. What I didn’t notice at the time was the solemnity of the things being said. 

It’s easy either to dismiss the promises the queen made as some kind of historical curiosity, or even - as some do - to see them as an outrageous affront to democracy.  But there’s another aspect of those promises which – looking at them in the light of the intervening years – strikes me very powerfully.  The commitments that the Queen made at her coronation are deeply serious and very daunting.  And 64 years later and as she passes her 90th birthday – few could deny that the Queen has stuck to them unwaveringly. 

In an age when pretty much everything is seen as open to renegotiation at some point, the whole idea of lifelong commitments is one that can feel uncomfortable to some of us. I certainly find it challenges me, not least in regard to my Christian faith.   

After all, faith is supposed to be about a life-long commitment to how we live and why – not about what’s fashionable or convenient.  Yet almost daily many of us find ourselves questioning whether it really makes sense in a rapidly changing world to hang on to ideals of love and service that can seem so out of tune with what’s going on around us.  At times like that having such a model of steadfastness and dedication is a very powerful encouragement.

Father, thank you for the example of faithful commitment set by Her Majesty the Queen.  May we be as faithful and unwavering in making and living out the commitments we make – to you and to one another.  Amen