大象传媒

From Reverend Sharon Grenham-Thompson, vicar in Milton Keynes:

My church is getting ready for a big tea party on Saturday afternoon, one of the many places where people will be celebrating the Queen鈥檚 90th birthday this weekend. It鈥檚 the Duke of Edinburgh鈥檚 95th tomorrow as well, although he has said he wants the attention to be on Her Majesty.

I was really moved by a story I read about Her Majesty this week, told by a doctor returning from frontline military duty. He suffered from PTSD, and, at a formal occasion with the Queen, found himself too traumatized even to speak to her. Far from being annoyed or offended, the Queen recognized the poor doctor鈥檚 distress, and spent 20 minutes with him, allowing him to feed and pet her corgis, until he had calmed down.

Whatever one鈥檚 views on the monarchy, there鈥檚 no denying the Queen and Prince Phillip, now two very elderly people, have spent the best part of their lives supporting individual people and all kinds of projects, with the aim of serving the common good - or common 鈥榳eal鈥� to use the old word for it - which is where we get the 鈥楥ommonwealth鈥� from.

There鈥檚 a prayer in one of the Church of England service books which asks God to help us 鈥榟onour one another and seek the common good.鈥� And this idea of a collective responsibility to ensure the well-being of all in society is one that goes back many centuries, from Aristotle onwards.聽 At the heart of the 鈥榗ommon good鈥� is the philosophy that we should aim for human flourishing in all lives, not just our own.

In a demanding and competitive world I believe it can be very tempting sometimes just to focus on our own individual flourishing, over and above anyone else鈥檚. Worries about income, housing, even culture, can lead people to see one another as rivals, rather than simply as men, women and children with needs, hopes and dreams. High stress lives can mean we miss the signs of distress in others, too preoccupied with our own troubles.

Our tea party on Saturday, like so many other celebrations, will bring all kinds of people together. What a tribute to the Queen鈥檚 legacy it would be if we could carry on that togetherness into the future - honouring one another and seeking the common good.