The Crown from Coronation to Funeral

On Monday morning we watched the funeral of Queen Elizabeth the Second.  We had both watched her coronation in black and white newsreel back in 1953.  The gun carriage that processed the coffin to the cathedral had the crown on it, plus orb and sceptre - the same crown, orb and sceptre that we saw on the black and white newsreel so long ago I assume. It also carried an arrangement of September flowers, and it began its journey with pipers heading it. It was an impressive and lovely spectacle, that filled me full of an Autumnal sadness.

The ceremony in the Abbey was so well arranged, but was also frustrating. One clergyman said that death is "the path to glory". Where in the Bible does it say that?!  Death is our enemy, and Jesus himself wept when he saw it.  There were some lovely Scriptural readings though, all done flawlessly, in the face of an audience of millions.

And now if I can cling on to life for long enough, I will be seeing my second coronation, as our new King, Charles the Third, ascends to throne.  And I will be meeting that Crown, Orb and Sceptre for a third time - and surely for the last, as even if the present system of things on the earth continues until after we have a King William, I surely won't.'

And if I am here after that, after Armageddon, there will be no more human kings and queens, no need for crowns and sceptres and orbs. No more need for funerals either, as "death will be no more".  Jesus will reign as King for the Thousand Years, and then he will hand everything back to his Father, in a complete and perfect state.

In the meantime, I want to note the flowers, as we will always have flowers.  There was a charming informal arrangement of Autumn garden flowers, roses, hydrangea and such like on the Queen's coffin, all apparently picked from the royal gardens.  And there were splendid and more formal arrangements of lilies and roses, all white, in Cathedral and Chapel.

Why is it we want flowers at funerals?  And is it a custom across all cultures?  At any rate, it was beautifully done at this one.  And I thought the photo of Hawthorne blossom (by Capt.Butterfly) which heads this blog had a heraldic note about it.

And maybe Spring blossom can remind us of the re-birth, the resurrection, the re-awakening that is the Biblical hope for the dead.

I managed an hour on the field service yesterday, meeting with a sibling in Zoom. It was a valuable hour for me as I am wrestling with this promised book review, which must do justice to the book but also include a witness, because of the serious subject matter - and the title.

It is at the stage where it seems impossible, so I need to be made to get down to it and not find other things to do.