Faith

Much has been said over the past week about how important her Christian
Faith was for Queen Elizabeth II-  a fact often illustrated through the
personal anecdotes of others.

Faith is a strange thing. Every day we exercise faith, mostly without
thinking. At the simplest level, we sit on chairs, having faith they will
bear our weight. We turn on our water taps trusting that the water will be
pure. I set the alarm clock to waken up to do Thought for the Day and I had
faith it will work. It did!

We make an arrangement to meet a colleague for coffee and turn up, having
faith they will be there too. Mostly faith involves placing your trust in
someone or something, without question, as in these examples. In such
contexts, it is an intuitive process. It's what we do.

But there are times it is more active, when we take a leap of faith, where
we are considering a decision that might have adverse consequences for us or
our family. At such times we don't operate the same way. We spend time
weighing up the choices, evaluating the options and their consequences.
Maybe we talk to a trusted friend and then, we go for it. We actively take
that leap of faith based on a mixture of facts and intuition. It's a head
and heart thing.

I have been challenged on many occasions when the Queen openly referred to
how important her Christian faith was for her during the difficult times she
faced. She was candid about her need to seek support and wisdom from God
throughout her reign. Such vulnerability was, for me at least, refreshing.
Unlike some leaders, the Queen "did God".

Charles III takes on his role as Monarch of GB and N Ireland in a context
where the role of Faith in the public square is, at best, contested and at
worst - challenged. I had the privilege to be present at the Service of
reflection for the life of HM Queen Elizabeth II, in St Anne's cathedral
yesterday. It was not by chance that the service was held in a Christian
church with the King in attendance. Just as his Mother did, King Charles has
also been open about his need to seek guidance from God in his life, thereby
publicly placing his faith front and centre.

The King has said that he wants to be Defender of Faiths rather than only
the Christian Faith. This is, for me at least, a welcome recognition of the
role of all Faiths in nation building. I hope and pray that the King
continues to openly reference the importance of his Faith during his reign -
as by such public acknowledgements, space is created to allow the voices of
Faith to be heard when we are creating the vision and values that will form
our shared future.