During the first week of September, millions in England and millions more around the world mourned the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, who died tragically in a car crash in Paris.
For whom the bell tolls
The sudden death of any person who is young (Diana was only 36) inspires more than ordinary grief. The tolling of church bells at unusual times has, traditionally, marked death, with each peal signaling one year in the life of the deceased. In earlier (and slower) times, farmers at work in their fields, and women at work in their homes, would pause in their daily routine when the church bells rang out. They would listen and they would count the peals: Sometimes the bells would ring for a good long time – 70, 80, 90 peals — and the listeners would say to themselves, “Well, those were good innings!” — meaning, “The deceased lived a long life.” But at other times the bells would ring – 10, 20,30 peals — and then all would be silent — and the listeners would return to their chores with hearts a little heavier, realizing once more the brevity, and sadness, of life.
“Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind. And therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls. It tolls for thee.”
On Saturday, September 6, church bells rang out, and the whole world stopped and listened. From Westminster Abbey in London, final resting place of 40 generations of British kings, sounded out words and music and prayers that were flashed around the world instantaneously. More people were brought together in that one moment, to witness that one event, than ever before in human history.
A fatal brilliance
Many nations have royalty. All nations have the rich and the famous and the powerful. What made the Princess of Wales so special? In pondering that question, we may find some interesting answers.
Diana was a “fairy tale” princess plucked from obscurity to marry her “Prince Charming” and to live happily ever after — but of course, the story didn’t end the way fairy tales should. In real life, fairy tales don’t!
In the beginning, she captured the imagination of the world: she was young, rich, beautiful and fashionable, and she married the man of her dreams. What Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis had been, Diana Spencer became, only more so! In no time at all, her appearances – opening hospitals, visiting foreign dignitaries, reviewing the troops, whenever and wherever—completely overshadowed the appearances of her husband Prince Charles. Therein lay, perhaps, the seeds of the final tragedy. For Diana, young and naive, outshone everyone around her, including monarchs and future monarchs!
So, even as she captured more and more hearts with her genuine concern for, and kindness toward the sick, downtrodden, AIDS victims, lepers and homeless, she was losing her husband, and her special place in the royal family The same newspapers, tabloids and television networks that made her an icon were chipping away at the image they had helped to create Nothing was secret in the fishbowl existence of the Windsor family, every whisper, every innuendo, was grist for the mill, all privacy was stripped away from her, she was lampooned and scorned by many A marriage that might m ordinary circumstances have been salvaged, finally and sadly broke down Surely there was fault on both sides, but the feeling in many quarters is that Diana was more sinned against than sinning.
In the wake of various infidelities on both sides, the marriage of Prince Charming and his Princess was lost, irretrievably Separation led to divorce But the Princess did not “go away”, she had such a hold on the imagination of the world that, even m exile and stripped of her royal title, she was still beloved by millions The woman who would never be Queen of the United Kingdom became the “queen of hearts” — still the most watched, the most reported, the most photographed person in the world And still she persisted, despite failures in her personal life, despite what some of her family characterized as deep personal feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, to devote herself to many charities and causes, and to reach out to touch and help many of the poor and wretched of society.
Perhaps it was her very failings, and her vulnerability, that helped to endear her to so many millions She became, in the words of her brother’s eulogy, the “standard-bearer for the rights of the downtrodden”, because so many recognized m her their own weaknesses She was not just royalty, she was imperfect, human, and real She was one of them.
So she died, as she had lived, in the fast lane And pop singers, prune ministers and unimaginable crowds of common folk, mourned her passing, “like a candle in the wind” The monarch of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, who bows to no man, bowed to her coffin as it passed
Someone who truly cares!
The outpouring of grief at the death of Diana suggests, pathetically but also promisingly, a world that is looking for someone who truly cares, for a leader who can truly supply what the bright and beautiful, but frail and flawed Diana could only hint at! We live ma world that is groping for, that desperately needs, true “royalty”
There is such a man
“Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matt 11 28-30)
There was a man who walked through the world, touching the lepers, the poor, the blind and the homeless, changing lives as he went There was a man who truly cared for all, but especially for the rejected, downtrodden and the abused — he himself was rejected, trodden down and abused because of his good deeds There was a man who was truly “touched with the feeling of our infirmities”, for he was in all points tempted just as we are — he knew what it was like to feel the weakness of human nature, yet — marvellously — he was without sin”! (Heb 4:15)
This man was born in obscurity, but he was destined for great things. He went about Israel, proclaiming by his actions that he was a King, doing only good for others. But some who hated him plotted and connived, and finally stripped him of his clothes and his last vestige of human dignity; then they nailed him to a cross — where he died, still a young man of 33.
“I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (John 12:32).
“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life “(John 3:14. 16).
This man, being lifted up on a cross, became the true “standard-bearer for the rights of the downtrodden”. And this man, being raised up three short days later from a tomb of stone, became — and continues to this very day to be — the King of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, India, Africa, Asia, Europe, America and the rest of the world. He is, as well, the “king of love”, who reigns in all loving hearts:
“The King of love my Shepherd is.
Whose goodness faileth never:
I nothing lack if I am his,
And he is mine for ever…
“Perverse and foolish oft I strayed;
But yet in love he sought me;
And on his shoulders gently laid,
And home, rejoicing, brought me…
“And so through all the length of days
Thy goodness faileth never:
Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise
Within thy house for ever”
The whole world will witness another great spectacle, one day not too far in the future. We cannot know exactly what form it will take, although the Bible has many hints:
“Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him” (Rev. 1:7).
There will be aspects of a great state funeral about that event too, because the great King who appears then will be recognized as the One who was crucified (will he reveal the wounds in his hands and side? (Zech. 13:6)) — and there will be great mourning when he comes, at least for a moment.
“And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean” (Rev. 19:14).
There will be a military presence at that great event too, and beautiful horses, and armies arrayed in splendid pageantry. Mourning will give way to rejoicing, as the understanding sinks into the minds of the billions watching that this man had been dead, but now is gloriously and eternally alive, and he brings unimaginable blessings to all his subjects!
“The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him” (Psa. 72:10,11).
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising” (Isa. 60:1-3).
Before this King the monarchs of the whole earth will prostrate themselves, laying their crowns at his feet!
Countless graves will be opened around the world, and out of the dust itself will be reconstituted living, breathing, sentient beings: Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Moses, David, apostles and prophets, and ordinary men and women who are gathered together with untold numbers of living ones, to meet the new King before his throne. Surely there will first be a great hush among that magnificent throng — a “moment of silence”.
“The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him” (Hab. 2:20).
This will be the most eloquent stillness the world has ever known. Then the moment of silence will be broken with the peal of bells ringing out liberty and life, and the notes of trumpets sounding out victory.
And from everyone who has breath, now knowing and fully understanding the purpose of that God-given breath, voices will be raised to sing the praises of the great King, and the whole earth will be a “cathedral” to echo those praises:
“And they sung as it were a new song before the throne… and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth…And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest” (Rev. 14:3; 15:3,4).
May that day soon come when all peoples of the earth will be united into one, with one King and one voice. “Even so. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen”
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One