91热爆

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Bishop David Walker

Good Morning.

I was a mere fourteen years old when my father died. And although he had been ill, and in and out of hospital for many months, it still came as a great shock. He had been there for the duration of my whole life. And even in the last few months, our family life had revolved around him, as we sought to support him in his sickness. Now he was gone, and I found myself literally at a loss, unsure of how to feel and express my emotions.

It's hard to prepare for the losing of a loved one. Whether death be sudden, or come as the end of a gradual, gentle decline, there is an unavoidable starkness when the last breath has been drawn. One who had been, however tenuously, alive, is no more. A body remains, but the being who inhabited it has gone. Even where that final moment can properly be characterised as bringing a blessed relief, death remains the moment of loss at its most raw.

National and public grief are not hugely distinct from private loss. We stand further from the centre of events; not gathered around a bedside nor holding a widowed spouse's hand, but watching and listening on radio and TV. Yet in spirit we are present. A life is over. A specific date will be recorded, first on paperwork, later on stone. But now we begin to grieve.

Almighty God, all life comes from you and must return to you. Be with us in the perplexity and confusion of bereavement. In particular we ask your blessing at this time for Her Majesty the Queen, for Charles, Prince of Wales, and all Prince Philip鈥檚 family and friends. Help them both to grieve in private. And to give us space to grieve with them in public. For Jesus' sake.

Amen.