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Well, the royal wedding has certainly has us talking! And so it should. As I looked over the photos of William and Kate in Canterbury Cathedral, that grand and beautifully majestic building, I was suddenly struck by the youth (they're both under thirty) of the couple standing in that ancient edifice where so many others have stood before them, and the huge expectations that even the non-believers have of them.
I've talked often of the cohesive force that, say, the Ethiopian monarchy brought to the country over the centuries, allowing it to withstand everything from Islamic to Italian invasions.
But, I think one of the primary factors that allowed this monarchy to resist obstacles, and to keep the country as safe and united as possible against destruction, is Christianity. Emperors were ordained through God, and referred to the religion and its symbolic (and practical) values as they reigned. And the common man looked up to them in a semi-religious way, trusting that they will keep them safe and united, and promising loyalty in return. Patriotism began with the Emperors.
This is what Kate and William can bring to their country. Not a cultish adulation (or an entertaining distraction, as has been the case here, which caused my initial negative reaction to the festivities), but something prescribed from higher levels (of tradition, of faith), which, as history shows us, is such an important aspect of the health of a nation.
But as I wrote at the end of my previous blog, "the couple [needs to] rethink through the muddle [of the ring, which I used as a metaphor for what they've inherited]. The problem is, who will help them?"
That is the big question.