Every life pilgrimage includes times of loss and grief. Following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II the United Kingdom, Commonwealth and many other parts of the world enter a period of mourning and sorrow. It is also a time of thankfulness for all that our much-loved monarch gave and represented: a lifetime of service, deeply rooted in faith.
The poem ‘Gate of the Year’ by Minnie Louise Haskins, quoted by King George VI in his 1939 war time Christmas broadcast to the British Empire, and often read at funerals, speaks to many at times of grief, loss and difficulty:
And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year: “Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.” And he replied: “Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God. That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.” So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night. And He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone East.
As Her Majesty travels to her final resting place, words of Thomas Campion speak of the finding of peace and sanctuary in a quiet haven after a long journey on the tempestuous seas of life.
Never weather-beaten sail more willing bent to shore, Never tired pilgrim’s limbs affected slumber more, Then my weary spright now longs to fly out of my troubled breast. O come quickly, sweetest Lord, and take my soul to rest. Ever-blooming are the joys of Heaven’s high paradise, Cold age deafs not there our ears, nor vapour dims our eyes; Glory there the Sun outshines, whose beams the blessed only see: O come quickly, glorious Lord, and raise my spright to thee.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
1926 – 2022