Service and duty

The Very Rev Dr John Chalmers pays tribute to the Queen in the month of her Platinum Jubilee.

I WAS born in the year that King George VI died, and had my first birthday in the week of the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. So, I have reached my platinum year just as Her Majesty reaches her Platinum Jubilee of service to the nation and Commonwealth.

Our ruling monarch is really quite remarkable and the most remarkable thing of all is that although she holds no real power in government her influence is felt around the world. Of course, not everyone believes in monarchy and many people question the traditions and rituals which often appear to be incongruous in the modern age. However, in a world where doubtful personalities with dubious characters become national leaders, it is of some note that our Head of State has, all her life, been motivated by duty and has been a living example of scrupulous honesty and integrity.

At the time of writing this short article the world has been led to the precipice by a Head of State who has little grip on the reality of life for his own people, never mind the good and courageous people of Ukraine. Across the world there are national leaders who could be described as serial killers, pathological liars, selfseeking bullies and partisans who lead their countries out of self-interest and for self-gain. It is one of the tragedies of our time that just as we appeared to be reaping the benefit of decades of peace in Europe the world has become as dangerous a place as it has ever been.

At one and the same time we are staring at a climate emergency which threatens the very future of humanity; this is a challenge that should unite the human race because it is only together that we can make the required difference, but instead, we are left at the mercy of power mongers declaring war over the question of where we should position our weapons of mass destruction. I venture the thought that we would be living in a very different world if other world leaders had a fraction of the sense of duty, service and wisdom of our Queen. It is for these qualities that the Queen is known, and these are the source of her influence around the world. Quiet assurance and gracious goodness account for the impact she has had on our nation’s life. The Queen may hold no real power, but she has held many powerful people to account and her example has been something of a divining rod for the nation.

In the last analysis – power, authority and control which is not exercised for the greater good will prove harmful. Of much greater importance than the power of the powerful is the motive of the powerful. In Proverbs 21: 1-2, the writer alludes to the leadership of kings and says: “Good leadership is a channel of water controlled by God; God directs it to whatever end God chooses. We justify our actions by appearances; God examines our motives” (The Message). If the actions of our leaders are to be weighed in the balance of history, then the scales will surely be tilted in favour of those who put service and duty before self-aggrandisement and ambition.

“…the most remarkable thing of all is that although she holds no real power in government her influence is felt around the world.

At the Coronation in Westminster Abbey in 1953 the then Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, James Pitt-Watson, presented the Queen with a bible saying: “Our gracious Queen: to keep your Majesty ever mindful of the law and the Gospel of God as the Rule for the whole life and government of Christian Princes, we present you with this Book, the most valuable thing that this world affords. Here is Wisdom; This is the royal Law; These are the lively Oracles of God.”

The Queen then returned the book to Pitt-Watson, but she has never forgotten the symbolism, sanctity and significance of those words.