The Queen

  Rachel and I watched The Queen the other day--it's one of those movies that we had wanted to see for some time, but other movies kept getting in the way.  It had been on once when we were on an airplane, but for some reason neither of us had watched it, but I think that both of us had regretted it ever since.  So we settled in...

  The Queen is the tale of the relationship between Queen Elizabeth II and newly-elected Tony Blair in the days following the very public and very tragic death of Princess Diana.  Tony Blair has his finger on the pulse of Britain, and the royal family has misread the situation completely, and the media jumps on the royal family's seeming cold-heartedness.

  The reality is that the royal family has grown up doing things a certain way, and the public no longer respects/desires them to act like that, so someone has to change, and it's not going to be the public.

  It got me thinking about the church--so often we stick (cling?) to our old ways, despite the fact that the greater public has moved forward, into a new age, often without the church.  The church demands flexibility, and so often the church responds with the same old solutions.  We hear with old ears, and so act in old ways, despite the fact that our hearts may share the same new passion for Christ.

  What does it take to hear in new ways, and to respond with new outreach?  As in The Queen, it often takes an outside force, be it a person or event, to lead us there.  But I believe it is possible to do through reflection and brutal self-honesty.  Where are we failing?  How can we improve?  How do we need to change?  Who is Christ calling us to be today?

  There are certain truths to which we must cling.  But Christ gives us new gifts and sends us forth into a new day--may we meet that with new answers that relate the old truth of Christ in new ways.  May we serve with courage and imagination, and may we listen with humility when someone suggests we try something new.  It just may be the breath of the Spirit blowing!