91热爆

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with the Rev Canon Susanna Gunner.

Good morning

Out for a walk a few days ago, I came across a little memorial on the edge of the Norfolk town where I live鈥�.. a wooden cross with Prince Philip鈥檚 name and dates hand-written across it, homemade red, white and blue poppies in the earth around. Its moving simplicity stopped me in my tracks. There must be many such memorials up and down the land, testament to the warmth of affection in which the Prince is held, and the gratitude felt for his long years of service.

But our feelings for him do not stand alone. They are closely linked to our feelings for his widow. Side by side for decades, how could it be otherwise? A nation already grieving for so many, readily feels a deep collective sorrow for its figurehead who has lost her 鈥榮trength and stay鈥�. We glimpse the bereftness and know that, funeral now over, the hard task of grieving begins 鈥� living with the beloved one鈥檚 inescapable absence, 鈥榮pread like the sky鈥�, as C.S. Lewis wrote, 鈥榦ver everything鈥�.

We also know that Her Majesty, with all Christians in these weeks after Easter, will be hearing again the gospel accounts of the risen Jesus appearing to his friends. In one, for example, still bearing the wounds of crucifixion, he comes into a room of anxious and grieving disciples. And he calms and consoles them, greeting them in the old familiar way: 鈥淪halom,鈥� he says, 鈥淧eace鈥�.

Risen Christ,
come to all who grieve at this time
and speak to them of peace.

Amen