The bread is being baked and the circus is heading to town.
This year we, or at least Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, celebrates the diamond anniversary of her Coronation.
It is certainly an achievement in a volatile world.
Since 1952 the world has been torn apart by strife, by wars, by emigrations and immigrations, there have been coups and counter coups, we have seen Nelson Mandela emerge from Robbins Island as a senior world statesman, there has been Mugabe in Zimbabwe, US Presidents have been impeached, HO Chi Min and Vietnam, the Beatles and The Rolling Stones, Prime Ministers have come and gone and throughout all this change from an ancien regime to modernity and beyond, the Queen has graced the Throne.
And of course the con-dem Government can't believe its luck.
So the bread is being baked and the circus is heading to town.
At a time when the country is being divided by policies which favour the rich over the poor, when poverty is on the increase, when living longer rather than being a joy is becoming a nightmare as heating bills soar and pensions are reduced, when Bankers Bonuses are still obscene compared to other peoples wage cuts, the Prime Minister defends capitalism as the only economic system to get us out of the mess it has got us into and one minister supports the crazy notion that £60M is spent on a new royal yacht.
Meanwhile the bread is being baked and the circus is heading to town.
The celebration is being called a jubilee.
Google it and you will find it there described as a Diamond Jubilee or The Queen's Jubilee.
Wrong word!
Inappropriate word!
So there will be street parties (or will there?)
There will be celebrations (or will there?)
Certainly they are being planned, and it may be that for some people an opportunity to celebrate the event might just take their mind off the credit card balances or the fact that their pensions or benefits are being reduced or removed, or that they have lost their job and are struggling to find another, bread and circuses can occasionally help alleviate the misery that life puts your way.
But it is not a Jubilee.
A jubilee is defined in Leviticus 25:10
Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto you, and you shall return every man to his own clan, you shall return every man to his family.
For both Jews and Christians, the Jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon.
In Jubilee slaves are to be freed.
In Jubilee debts are to be forgiven.
Rather than commissioning a yacht or throwing street parties maybe the con-dem Government could consider ensuring that there is some genuine contribution to the common good, some attempt to ameliorate the worst effects of the recession which has affected the wider global community but which is being deepened by their policies and the savage cuts in public expenditure.
There is another tradition which the present Queen has made especially her own, The Royal Maundy.
In 1997 the Queen came to Bradford Cathedral for the Royal Maundy, it was an impressive occasion, two people for each year of her reign were awarded a purse containing the specially minted Maundy Money.
I had the privilege of hosting the lunch for the recipients and shared with them the sense that the Queen had been gracious in her pursuit of this ancient tradition.
Originally the Monarch had literally washed the feet of their subjects as Jesus had washed his disciples feet, over time the Maundy Purse replaced the ritual foot washing, but the principle remained that the ceremony marked the fact that the Monarch was both King and servant of the people.
The bread is baking and the circus is on its way .........
This year we, or at least Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, celebrates the diamond anniversary of her Coronation.
It is certainly an achievement in a volatile world.
Since 1952 the world has been torn apart by strife, by wars, by emigrations and immigrations, there have been coups and counter coups, we have seen Nelson Mandela emerge from Robbins Island as a senior world statesman, there has been Mugabe in Zimbabwe, US Presidents have been impeached, HO Chi Min and Vietnam, the Beatles and The Rolling Stones, Prime Ministers have come and gone and throughout all this change from an ancien regime to modernity and beyond, the Queen has graced the Throne.
And of course the con-dem Government can't believe its luck.
So the bread is being baked and the circus is heading to town.
At a time when the country is being divided by policies which favour the rich over the poor, when poverty is on the increase, when living longer rather than being a joy is becoming a nightmare as heating bills soar and pensions are reduced, when Bankers Bonuses are still obscene compared to other peoples wage cuts, the Prime Minister defends capitalism as the only economic system to get us out of the mess it has got us into and one minister supports the crazy notion that £60M is spent on a new royal yacht.
Meanwhile the bread is being baked and the circus is heading to town.
The celebration is being called a jubilee.
Google it and you will find it there described as a Diamond Jubilee or The Queen's Jubilee.
Wrong word!
Inappropriate word!
So there will be street parties (or will there?)
There will be celebrations (or will there?)
Certainly they are being planned, and it may be that for some people an opportunity to celebrate the event might just take their mind off the credit card balances or the fact that their pensions or benefits are being reduced or removed, or that they have lost their job and are struggling to find another, bread and circuses can occasionally help alleviate the misery that life puts your way.
But it is not a Jubilee.
A jubilee is defined in Leviticus 25:10
Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto you, and you shall return every man to his own clan, you shall return every man to his family.
For both Jews and Christians, the Jubilee is a special year of remission of sins and universal pardon.
In Jubilee slaves are to be freed.
In Jubilee debts are to be forgiven.
Rather than commissioning a yacht or throwing street parties maybe the con-dem Government could consider ensuring that there is some genuine contribution to the common good, some attempt to ameliorate the worst effects of the recession which has affected the wider global community but which is being deepened by their policies and the savage cuts in public expenditure.
There is another tradition which the present Queen has made especially her own, The Royal Maundy.
In 1997 the Queen came to Bradford Cathedral for the Royal Maundy, it was an impressive occasion, two people for each year of her reign were awarded a purse containing the specially minted Maundy Money.
I had the privilege of hosting the lunch for the recipients and shared with them the sense that the Queen had been gracious in her pursuit of this ancient tradition.
Originally the Monarch had literally washed the feet of their subjects as Jesus had washed his disciples feet, over time the Maundy Purse replaced the ritual foot washing, but the principle remained that the ceremony marked the fact that the Monarch was both King and servant of the people.
The bread is baking and the circus is on its way .........
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