Queen’s Birthday Weekend

As soon as I hear someone mention the Queen’s Birthday I always see this picture in my mind because this is how I saw her and the Duke of Edinburgh in 1954 as they drove past me: I was fortunate to be in the army then and part of a Guard of Honour for them as they visited Sydney. The Queen is elderly now as is my wife, although Audrey is a few years’ younger. Strangely, my mind has this image of both of them as youthful and refuses to

see either of them as old. In some ways
there is truth in this as I do not believe that the real person, (that we describe as the Soul), ever ages beyond about 30. Audrey, for her part, always had a youthful approach to whatever she did (look at her here at the Kelso Border Leicester sale in Victoria in 1968), and the Queen has set a very good example in her marriage and in whatever she has been involved in.

Oh I know you can criticise royalty, but who can’t you criticise? I guarantee that if we become a Republic and replace her with a President, then that President will cop a lot more “flack” than the Queen ever did (and will probably deserve it too).

The Queen has always been aware of the fact that God is to be revered: at her Majesty’s coronation, the Archbishop of Canterbury (as he placed the crown on her head) recited words saying that she had the right to wear it until Jesus, to whom it rightfully belongs, comes back to rule. Her majesty is also head of the Anglican (Christian) Church. Therefore, as a Christian nation established by England, Australia was delighted to accept Elizabeth as the figurehead of our Democracy and whenever our National Anthem was required we willingly sang “God Save the Queen”, just as we sang “God Save the King” when her father King George the 6 th, was alive. That National Anthem was sung very frequently in Australia, (at school Assemblies and all sporting events) in doing so we acknowledged that God was in charge, which was a very worthwhile reminder. However, ostensibly, to save confusion at the Olympic Games and so on, some years ago the Government adopted a different Anthem so we now sing “Advance Australia Fair”, which is quite a nice “Jingoistic” song but the word “God” is conspicuous by its absence. During the same decade, the mention of God in our public school curriculum was prohibited and it supports the idea that there is no sign of intelligent design in the Universe.  Flowers like this Gerbera and Orchid apparently designed themselves even though they have no minds or brains.

Sunday was a day of rest and worship so no shops, apart from corner stores, were allowed to open. Now all that has changed and Sunday is a day for organised sport and shopping.

To a large extent, the Old Testament in the Bible is an historical record of how God endeavoured to guide the Israeli people and if we care to look at the books of Kings and Chronicles we will find that God blessed that nation when they honoured Him but “pulled the plug” on them when they strayed away and ignored Him; even to the extent that He “encouraged” the Babylonians to defeat them and take them into captivity for many years. I fear that is now happening to our nation too. Also “Wisdom comes from God” and if we don’t seek His wisdom but “go it alone” we will make dreadful mistakes like our Governments have been making by selling our land, our dairies, our coal mines, our gas, our ports, our electricity generating, etc., etc.to foreigners. When I was a young man I had never heard of Security Alarms, Surveillance cameras, police carrying pistols, people locking their houses, children not being safe walking home late at night on their own, or terrorism. This has all changed in five decades and it must be stopped. (2 Chronicles Chapter 7 Verse 14).

To reverse this decline, we must repent for having insulted God by ignoring Him. We can’t force our Governments to change but it will make a difference if we, as individuals, ask His forgiveness in Jesus name, pray, read the New Testament and relevant parts of the Old Testaments, observe His directions and attend a Christian Church for support and encouragement. This is urgent and God will bless us if we do it.          Kind regards, Tom.