Well of course I watched the Royal wedding today. With a mix of splendour at the wonderful pomp and pageantry and the loveliness of belonging. But that confused bit of me that likes to be separate and a non conformist too - I don't like that I can be easily led to be herded along with the masses. I want to be individual and am afraid if I follow the crowd I will lose a sense of self. This is a lack of self esteem and it's ego all at the same time. I am me, unique and OK. So it's fun to be me amidst my species and observe as we get shivers of joy with the pageantry. I think the Brits do it well. It was a beautiful wedding and I had lots of questions about what was going on in their minds, family members minds and behind the scenes. I guess anyone in the public eye like that raises that interest in me.
I loved the Bishop of London's sermon. So many wonderful things he said ...
Royal wedding: the full text of the Bishop of London's sermon.Right Honourable Dr Richard John Carew Chartres
29 APRIL 2011
"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire." So said St Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be, their deepest and truest selves.
Many are full of fear for the future of the prospects of our world but the message of the celebrations in this country and far beyond its shores is the right one – this is a joyful day!
It is good that people in every continent are able to share in these celebrations because this is, as every wedding day should be, a day of hope.
In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and the groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future.
William and Catherine, you have chosen to be married in the sight of a generous God who so loved the world that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus Christ. And in the Spirit of this generous God, husband and wife are to give themselves to each another.
A spiritual life grows as love finds its centre beyond ourselves. Faithful and committed relationships offer a door into the mystery of spiritual life in which we discover this; the more we give of self, the richer we become in soul; the more we go beyond ourselves in love, the more we become our true selves and our spiritual beauty is more fully revealed.
In marriage we are seeking to bring one another into fuller life. It is of course very hard to wean ourselves away from self-centredness. And people can dream of doing such a thing but the hope should be fulfilled it is necessary a solemn decision that, whatever the difficulties, we are committed to the way of generous love.
You have both made your decision today – “I will” – and by making this new relationship, you have aligned yourselves with what we believe is the way in which life is spiritually evolving, and which will lead to a creative future for the human race.
We stand looking forward to a century which is full of promise and full of peril. Human beings are confronting the question of how to use wisely a power that has been given to us through the discoveries of the last century.
We shall not be converted to the promise of the future by more knowledge, but rather by an increase of loving wisdom and reverence, for life, for the earth and for one another.
Marriage should transform, as husband and wife make one another their work of art. It is possible to transform as long as we do not harbour ambitions to reform our partner. There must be no coercion if the Spirit is to flow; each must give the other space and freedom.
Chaucer, the London poet, sums it up in a pithy phrase: “Whan maistrie [mastery] comth, the God of Love anon, Beteth his wynges, and farewell, he is gon.” As the reality of God has faded from so many lives in the West, there has been a corresponding inflation of expectations that personal relations alone will supply meaning and happiness in life.
This is to load our partner with too great a burden. We are all incomplete: we all need the love which is secure, rather than oppressive, we need mutual forgiveness, to thrive.
As we move towards our partner in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit is quickened within us and can increasingly fill our lives with light.
This leads to a family life which offers the best conditions in which the next generation can practise and exchange those gifts which can overcome fear and division and incubate the coming world of the Spirit, whose fruits are love and joy and peace.
I pray that all of us present and the many millions watching this ceremony and sharing in your joy today, will do everything in our power to support and uphold you in your new life.
And I pray that God will bless you in the way of life that you have chosen, that way which is expressed in the prayer that you have composed together in preparation for this day: God our Father, we thank you for our families; for the love that we share and for the joy of our marriage.
In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on what is real and important in life and help us to be generous with our time and love and energy.
Strengthened by our union help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Well I guess if two people meet that can support transformation and not need reformation and if two people can support each other to be individually who they are meant to be but also who as a couple they are meant to be together - well then it is truly something that will set the world on fire. I really loved these words that the Bishop brought to me today.
Osborne Myrtle in Royal Wedding Bouquet
Catherine Middleton carried a sprig of myrtle from Queen Victoria’s Osborne House on the Isle of Wight in her bouquet when she married Prince William today (Friday April 29 2011) at Westminster Abbey.
Carrying-on a tradition which started with the wedding of Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter Princess Victoria, Catherine Middleton’s bouquet contained stems from an original myrtle planted at Osborne in 1845, which still thrives within its sheltered terraced gardens today.
Queen Victoria was given a nosegay containing the myrtle by Prince Albert’s grandmother during a visit to Gotha in Germany in the year when the young married couple bought Osborne House as a family retreat – a sprig from the posy was planted against the terrace walls.
Signifying the innocence of the bride, the myrtle was first carried by Princess Victoria when she married in 1858 and continued with the weddings of her sisters Alice, Helena, Louise and Beatrice.
Queen Victoria married Prince Albert in 1840 after a whirlwind courtship.
The ring which the young bride slipped upon Albert’s finger was engraved with a date etched in both their hearts – October 15, 1839, the day she had found the courage to propose to her suitor. She wrote of the day: “It was a nervous thing to do, but Prince Albert could not possibly have proposed to the Queen of England.”
Visitors to Osborne House today watched the Royal Wedding on a large screen on the lawns of the magnificent Island setting and received a commemorative buttonhole of Osborne myrtle.
