Tower and Town, October 2022 (view the full edition)God Is Our RefugeWith the loss of Queen Elizabeth II, it feels, to quote Psalm 46, like the earth has given way and the mountains fallen into the heart of the sea. Most of us remember nothing before the Queen's reign. On the day I took my first steps, her eldest son married. Humanly speaking, her 70 year reign has been the one constant of the post-war era, not only for the UK but for the Commonwealth and beyond. The Queen has been, with Prince Philip, an island of uprightness as scandals brought down so many; a giant of history as tyrants rose and fell; and the figurehead around whom the nations of our Kingdom were proud to unite. Yet in the whirlwind of one afternoon, she is gone. The family rushed to her bedside. The sign was posted on the gates of Buckingham Palace. The news-screens turned black. More than once this week, I've shed a tear, as the news and tributes pour in; maybe you have too. What a world of trouble she leaves us in! War rages in Europe and the balance of global power shifts. Our new Prime Minister grapples with the economy, the NHS and rising fuel prices, while the pandemic is not over. Some of us feel illness, weep for loved ones or fear poverty. Psalm 46 says, God is our refuge and strength. Yes, the Queen was a rock - but God was her rock. Yes, the Queen has been ever present these 70 years, but God is ever present from the birth of time to the end. Yes, the Queen was noble, but God alone is perfect. At Christmas 2011, the Queen said, "Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves - from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person - neither a philosopher nor a general (important though they are) but a Saviour, with the power to forgive." In this world of trouble, let us find refuge in God. Reuben Mann |