Common Inspiration.

When the world rails and cries around you,

What should you do?

Stand your ground!

The choice is the only one;

For there is no other.

Indeed, it must be a noble venture to suffer in silence!

Those who claim to know best are full of it!

Themselves!

The public must not be offended;

The privy purse must remain unscathed.

In the absence of evidence there should be no judgement!

Let those without sin cast the first stone;

And may their damned souls rail and cry!

A token of significant import is taken;

The joining of two individuals,

who have carried and shared equal burdens,

who walk along the simplest path and share as a common event!

Yet, their every action is awarded some other motivation or attribution.

There can be no comparison between fairy tales and the ritual and reality of living!

A King, or a Prince, must earn his spurs!

In this cruel modern world, should lives lost be the measuring stick?

What value of the saving of life, the support of the weak,

The defence of those thrown to injustice?

There is more measure in a man who contributes continually

To the lesser children of God!

A few, the very few, close enough to warrant inclusion,

Shared a ceremony and witnessed the pledge of regal persons.

Twenty-eight, alone, selected from the fortunate,

To be a part of a historic moment.

For History was recorded and will be viewed

In retrospect with one question!

Who would be the blight upon an act of atonement and conciliation?

The day was favourable and the weather co-operative.

A shadow cast by the closure of the life of one other;

A Prince, who also bore the brunt of being,

Seeking to lead and wanting acceptance.

A respected leader might bare his spiritual self

to the harsh gaze of the secular, and smile!

May God in His Mercy accept the sacrifice!

The pact made, the oath taken,

The ritual completed, privately.

The pledge in the common court

meets all of the legal prerequisites.

The Law of the Land requires the license

and the registration of marriage.

There is no test of love, devotion or commitment;

There may be speculation on honesty!

One act of humility is followed by another!

A greater audience of Regal proportion.

Eight hundred souls to bear witness;

The highest appeal, in song, addresses the Heavens!

In the Chapel Royal, St George’s Windsor, the voices lift to the roof.

‘Immortal, Invisible, God only wise...

Thy justice like mountains high soaring above

Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all life thou givest - to both great and small;

In all life thou livest, the true life of all;

We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,

And wither and perish - but nought changeth thee.

“The Lord be with you!”

The acclaimed representative of spiritual monarchy greets all.

Recognition!

Sanction with intonation!

The challenge of affirmation!

Kneeling; reminded of God’s presence, silence is kept.

‘God is  love, and they that dwell in love dwell in God

and God in them. Let us pray.”

There is no greater admission or admonishment!

All who understand penitence declare themselves truthfully,

reminded of their own weakness; they pray for forgiveness.

The Confession bewails our manifold sins and wickedness.

Have mercy upon us!

Here the Archbishop pronounces Absolution!

The higher churchman, once spiritual leader,

Now the secular Lord, reads.

‘The new Jerusalem, coming from God out of Heaven,

prepared as a bride adorned by her husband...

Behold, I make all things new.

He that overcometh shall inherit all things;

And I will be his God, and he shall be my son.’

Revelations recognize the Throne,

and the power that can only belong to God.

The Russian Creed is an exhortation to another face of the Almighty.

The ritual Blessing confirms the right of recognition,

formally withheld, from kneeling penitents,

who sought what should have been accorded.

The law has been empowered to fulfil its own hypocrisy.

The dedication of lives, within the token of the rings, confirm all sanctions.

The affirmation calls upon all present,

‘To support them now and in years to come.’

In mutual prayer, the pledge to each other is given, with the aid of Jesus Christ.

‘Love Divine, all loves excelling,

Thou who art all compassion,

Visit with Thy Salvation and enter every trembling heart.’

In song the prayer exhorted rises;

‘Pure and spotless let us be!

Till we cast our crowns before thee;

Lost in wonder, love and praise.’

A close friend offers aged words.

Timothy West, an actor and a spokesman

Shares the words of the respectable Poet.

Wordsworth might have echoed his own sentiments in austere company.

‘Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood.’

The chosen lines reflect on childhood’s immaturity and give a beacon of hope.

‘O Joy! that in our embers

Is something that doth live,

That nature yet remembers

What was so fugitive!

The thought of our past years

in me doth breed

Perpetual benediction:...’

Our noisy years seem

moments in the being

Of the eternal Silence;

Truths that wake,

to perish never;

Which neither listlessness,

nor mad endeavour,

Nor Man nor Boy,

Nor all that is at eternity with joy,

Can utterly abolish or destroy!’

Music follows in the path of the divine word.

The Anthem;

‘Now come, the Saviour of the Gentiles...

that God ordained for him such a birth.

The Dean of Windsor, The Right Reverend David Conner leads the Prayers.

‘Almighty God, open the hearts of these thy servants...

That they may bring forth the fruit of the Spirit

in love and joy and peace;

‘Eternal God, true and living Father...

In Holy Matrimony make thy servants one;

Witness to thy love;

May unity overcome division,

Forgiveness heal injury

And joy triumph over sorrow,

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.’

‘O God our Father who, for them that love thee,

Makest all things work together for the good;

We thank thee that, of thy faithfulness,

Thou dost come out to meet us on our pilgrimage of life.

Stay with us now and grant that, as we learn to love thee more,

We may deepen our dedication to thy service,

And find in thee the fullness of eternal life.’

In all things we seek and hope to find

the balance and the meaning of who and why we are!

The question offered to God;

In trust we may be successful.

The Lord’s Prayer, a supplication, our plea!

We ask of heavenly power, in the presence of the secular, for forgiveness.

The closing hymn, ‘Praise, my soul, the King of Heaven...’

 Here the perfect admonition to all who may listen.

Well our feeble frame he knows;

Widely as his mercy flows

Praise him! Praise him!

Following this appeal, all kneel.

The spiritual blessing pronounced;

The Archbishop shares that within his charge.

‘God the Holy Trinity make you strong in faith and love,

Defend you on every side, and guide you in truth and peace.

Perhaps the whisper carried within the unspoken thanksgiving,

‘This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased.’

In conclusion, the secular power is acknowledged;

All loyal, with respect, stand and sing.

The mother’s burden; the protector of a faith;

The hope and aspiration tempered by human event.

The last words echo within the Holy place.

‘God save The Queen!’

Will George © April 2005