I am sure many of us watched the service in St Paul’s Cathedral to celebrate and give thanks for our beloved Queen on her Platinum Jubilee.
I do not know who selected the readings for this very special occasion. But the second one in particular was indeed an inspired choice for two reasons.
First, it served as an apt commentary on the way Her Majesty has fulfilled the promises she made to us all when she came to the throne.
Second, it offered an agenda for the future of our country.
This affects not just those who are chosen to lead it, but equally each one of us, if we are to discover a sense of community and service to one another.
Let me recall the words St Paul wrote to lift the spirits of new Christians in difficult times, and to assure them of God’s constant presence with them.
He gives us a wonderful list of adjectives describing qualities of which we can never get enough.
“True…honourable…just…pure…pleasing…commendable”. To drive his message home he invites them “if there is any excellence, anything worthy of praise, to think of these things” and to keep on doing them.
We must never imagine that this is something just for other people.
It is only when we all, as best we can, follow this way that divisions in our society may be healed and a better life becomes a possibility.
Colin James is an Honorary Priest at All Saints Church, Wokingham, writing on behalf of Churches Together in Wokingham
