As we celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, it is a chance to reflect on her years of dedicated service to the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. When marking the anniversary of her Accession on the 5th of February this year, she wrote a letter to the public containing these words: “it gives me pleasure to renew to you the pledge I gave in 1947 that my life will always be devoted to your service.”
The word ‘love’ is difficult to define but easy to use, it’s cheap to say but harder to enact. In these words from the Queen I think we see three things that demonstrate genuine love.
Firstly: Her Majesty speaks of the fact that she her whole life is dedicated to our service. To show real love is to dedicate oneself to another, to be devoted not to what one thinks they need but to their genuine service. And this the Queen has done.
Secondly, she serves not begrudgingly or out of a sense of irksome duty, but rather she tells us that it is her pleasure to continue to serve us. A loving heart is one which not only shows genuine service but also which does so with joy. The Queen has had her fair share of trials, but one gets the impression it is still a sincere pleasure to serve her people.
And thirdly, she has proven her dedication through 70 years of service. When it comes to love, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. And the Queen has shown that the first pledge she gave was not mere words but an honest and enduring desire to devote her life to us her people.
In all these three aspects the Queen reflects the loving rule of the God whom she has also faithfully served for her whole life.
Rev Oliver Strange