by LauraLoo
Highlights of the pomp, processions and pageantry of Queen Elizabeth II’s four-day Diamond Jubilee celebration.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PhtUmfZ3xI[/youtube]
There is also talk of renaming the Big Ben Clock Tower to the Elizabeth Tower. Your thoughts?
Email LauraLoo with your Lunch Break suggestions.
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Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Technically, only the bell is called Big Ben. The tower which houses the bell is called the Westminster Clock Tower. It is magnificent, though, so ultimately I don’t guess it matters what it’s called.
London is a wonderful city–spent time there as a student in the 90s and would love to go back one day :)
Hooray – thanks for posting this, Laura Loo. Some in the US may think it’s strange not to elect the Head of State, and I respect that warmly… but here in the UK, much as we love democracy, we’re still quite proud of our unelected Commander in Chief (two grandsons currently serving!), and this is one of the few moments we let it show. She’s been motivated by duty not politics for sixty years, and in that discreet, reticent way that’s so ‘typically British’, she’s a woman of God. This is the end of her Christmas Message from last year:
Although we are capable of great acts of kindness, history teaches us that we sometimes need saving from ourselves – from our recklessness or our greed. God sent into the world a unique person – neither a philosopher nor a general (important though they are) – but a Saviour, with the power to forgive.
Forgiveness lies at the heart of the Christian faith. It can heal broken families, it can restore friendships and it can reconcile divided communities. It is in forgiveness that we feel the power of God’s love.
In the last verse of this beautiful carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem, there’s a prayer:
O Holy Child of Bethlehem
Descend to us we pray
Cast out our sin
And enter in
Be born in us today
It is my prayer that on this Christmas day we might all find room in our lives for the message of the angels and for the love of God through Christ our Lord.
I wish you all a very happy Christmas.
I liked the pantomime horse. But Kate really should have toned it down a bit with the bright red outfit.
Nevertheless, God save the Queen!
I might seem a bit harsh but the whole diamond jubilee in my eyes was a complete farce. Millions and millions spent, for what? Sure, she is Queen and deserves respect and all, but at the end of the day – she is just a normal human being, who happened to be born into a royal family. It breaks my heart when all this fuss is made about the jubilee, when thousands of families are losing their jobs, losing their homes, and many people are homeless and poor. And I don’t mind a celebration of her jubilee (we all celebrate different anniversaries in some little way), but I do strongly object to the extravagance and the price the whole event has gone to.