I missed the wedding of Diana and Charles 30 years ago. I can scarcely believe it was 30 years ago. But I was sad that I did, so I made it a point to see William and Catherine. Partly because I liked Diana, and hated what happened to her, and partly becasue I watched the story of how Will and Kate met, and the trials of getting to where they are. William seems genuinely willing to do everything humanly possible to make their life together to be more about his love for her than about providing an heir. As I watched the whole affair, I became aware how much a part of the world the event of their marriage actually is, however. It is bigger than Will and Kate, and I truly hope it does not overtake them at some point. For now, I was delighted in the fairytale magic of it. It was actually refreshing to see a real reason for a little girl to dream of a fairytale wedding, and a prince charming. To imagine that someone in this world is willing to stand up for what they believe in and make a go at making one change in their situation, and hope it is for the good. How closely these two actually resemble the fairy tale. The reality of it, make it much better than a movie. It is a bold move they have taken, for some will not like the money spent on the affair. And there already are the critics and analytics who are tearing them apart with criticism.
I was glad I watched the whole process, so much so that I watched it twice.When it was over, I came away with a new perspective that I never dreamed I would have. The Holy Spirit kept leading my heart to the return of our savoir, and the day his kindom will come. During the service, for their wedding was a church service, the Lord's prayer was recited. However, the last lines were left out. "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven." My mind continued to finish the prayer, and I was concerned that this part was left out from their prayer. I wondered if it was always left out in a service which included the Queen. But the rest of the service inspired me. I loved that they did not mince words when they told of the real purpose of marriage in the eyes of God. I loved that their preacher, said that they must transform into a couple, but not try to remake one another. For this was the failing in my own marriage. My husband and I spent 20 years trying to remake one another, and in the end of that period, I didn't know myself, I was lost, hated the person I had been made into. I wanted to die at that point, but I decided instead to find myself again, and it has taken 20 more years to get to a place where I know who I am again. So I prayed Will and Kate would heed the warning. I was also glad that the message made a clear reference to marriage, as God intended it to be. Marriage would reflect Christ's love for the church, and his act of love toward the church, and the church would be one with him. It is a reference that scripture is clear on, a comparison which should be made and understood.
I also loved the song that was written for them, that quoted the scripture, "this is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." And that Kate's brother read the verses in Romans, with heartfelt intent that someone hear what he was reading. I have come away wishing I had a written version of the whole thing, so I could visit it again and again, because it blessed me. Every song, every prayer, every word was written to lift up Christ, to include God in this their act of being married. I really felt that for Kate at least, she intended to make it clear that she believed in this God, in this Christ, in this view of marriage. I don't think it was lost on the ministers of this great event, that they would have an opportunity to witness to the whole world, and they took it. And I was proud that they did.
The second time I watched it I became even more aware of the message the Spirit was giving my heart. But the second time, my mind most definitely saw how their lives made a living example of Christ as the lover of his Church but also as their King. We often forget to uplift our Lord as our returning King. I know my children have some trepidation about a returning savoir, and a rapture of the church, because of it's end of the world, end of life as we know it, connotations. Yet, to me this wedding signified a shift in the modern understanding of a Monarchy from one with a female head, to one with a male head, one with a coming King.
England has been preparing for the change from the leadership of a Queen to the leadership of a King to the point of manipulating the love lives of its family to acheive it. In a strange sort of way, it is as if God has allowed them to do anything necessary to make the shift. As beloved as Queens have been, from Victoria to Elizabeth, the monarchy has longed for a King. I cannot help but see a parallel to the church awaiting the shift from the emphasis being on "the church", (the female part of the Christ w Church love story,) to the emphasis being on the King, the messiah part of our Christ with Church love story. For years God has allowed that the Queens of England shine, but God is making a shift toward the time when a King will guide his commonwealth. If the service has not been so poinant in naming Jesus as the Christ I would have feared William to be an antichrist, the parallels were so intense. But instead, I think William and Kate are simply a reminder that there is a scenario that Jesus told us to look forward to, where-in there is a loving Prince who longs to be united with his bride. A bride who, like the church, for a time seemed lost to him. A bride who had to walk away because the burden of being in love with him became greater than she could bear, because the laws and expectations demanded perfection, adherance to a strict set of dos and don'ts, and a bloodline that exempted the common one from being allowed to enter into love.
But her prince did accept her, seek her and made that vow of commitment to her.
It is no wonder that Christ said he would come as a King of his kingdom and in a sense was the inventor of the fairytale image we have of a prince who loves and accepts the forbidden bride in spite of the law, and takes her with promise to one day be her King. However, he also chided the Pharasees and Saducees, for focusing on the writ of the law, rather than the giver of the law. It is a great tendency of mankind to prefer that they appear to be lovers of God, more than they actually are lovers of God. For now at least, I was delighted to see that this story of a kingdom awaiting the day it will actually be led by a king, is a love story, that it is possible, not a fairy tale. I needed a new vision, and a hope that the dream of a prince who loved his princess, who gave himself to her in marriage making her the focus of his love, so much so that he could change the shape of the kingdom to do it, and a promise of his being an adoring king when the day comes, a vision that it could be real, not just a fairytale.
This marriage is a marriage between two people. No two people could ever live up to being the image of the Love of Christ the King and his church, but for one day, it was a beautiful parallel, especially, when they emerged and the sun shone upon them, as if God were smiling, as if in answer to prayers. I felt the love of God in someone there. I felt a communion of the Holy Spirit in someone there, with the spirit in me. Scripture says we can know them.
Lest we forget, London is the place from which ships from all over the world converged to carry many of our ancestors to a place called America, people seeking freedom from a perversion of our faith in places of persecution. London was a place where a journey to freedom began. Our King James version of the scripture, used for all these years, and beloved to any who had never had a version of the scripture before came from England. People who wanted freedom from the noose "the church" in other countries had placed about their necks, sought a new place to build churches that focused on serving a living savoir, and a coming King. So they boarded ships supported by the King of England, often hoping to spread the gospel and establish colonies built on Bible principles. Although, the US found a need to separate themselves from the rule of England, it was and is England, which most closely preserves the Christian reference to a kingdom awaiting a beloved King.
I could go on and on about the things my heart saw in the parallel. One most significant however, was that William seems determined to defend his bride against whatever would deliberately or inadvertantly destroy her. With the love of his mother, still alive and directing him, he is taking an active and deliberate role in being his new love's protector. At one point he so tried to protect her from what he knew would hurt her, that to her it seemed he had turned his back on her. By staying away from her in public, he drew the onslaught of cameras and criticism toward himself. He scarcely spoke to her, and it hurt her, and she misread his inattention, as a desertion of her. As the world called her "Waitie Katie" and her heart remained true to him inspite of their stabs at her, she finally yeilded and turned to her own way. She sought to make a life without him, fairly sure that her dream that her prince would take her to be his future Queen was over. It must have felt to her as if all hope of his love was lost.
I am sorry, but it is true. I believe with all my heart that Christ is using this pair to bring an awareness to, and renew a longing in His bride, for the return of their King who will come to take his bride to the honeymoon, and then return to take his place as King. The honeymoon for the Church has long been over for the church, and Christians have waited a long time for Christ to become our King on this earth. I hope there are a number of years before Will has to take the responsiblity of the World on his shoulders. I hope their family may grow, adding greatly to the parallel of how the Marriage of Christ and His church have taken this time, while we wait for the coming of His Kingdom, to grow into the whole world.
Scripture says that Christ will return as our King when the word is heard in all the world. Yesterday, and in the ensuing days, has to be a time when the whole world had an opportunity to hear the Word of God, to hear a testiment to Jesus as Christ to the World, as God being in the form of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and a part of how change can come in the hearts of men. I almost wish Diana could know that she made a difference however small it will actually be, by affecting the heart of her son so deeply, that she gave him courage to see the world in a different way, and love a girl who was not of royal blood, just like Christ when he chose his Church.
Lord, I pray for this young future King and his bride, because no matter how much we love democracy, we need good leaders in this world. We need someone who will cling to the Christian faith as its foundation, whether we agree on how it's done, or not. Our nation no longer makes its greatest days ones which name you as our Christ. England did something yesterday that we in our Democracy have ceased to do. And for that I say, God bless the Queen! and God bless her someday King, if You don't come as King yourself first. Please, may it always be in William's heart to let the whole world see that the real King of our world is Jesus Christ our Lord! Amen
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