Rest in peace. A fitting end to an extraordinary woman who stepped up to a burden of awesome weight and responsibility, the weight of generations upon her shoulders, the survival of an ancient monarchy, - and she met and conquered it. Highly regarded throughout the world, this is, was, not a woman who was attacked on personality nor personal foibles. She remained, ever, a Queen, in every sense of the word. Through national crises, through family catastrophes, she stood firm, dignified, and always had the welfare of her nation, the stability that was her responsibility, as foremost, even as she bypassed easy paths out. Truly, though the phrase of the title has a strong tie to the Catholic Church and the Queen was Anglican, this is a woman who most definitely has earned the blessing of wishing her an eternal resting in peace.
While we do not know what Charles III will bring to his monarchy, I do not believe it will be the same. His mother was the only queen 80% of the nation knew and she was beloved. Her son, not the same at all. I, quite frankly, fascinated with British history, am a tad perturbed by his choice of title. Charles I was beheaded, a major shock to the system, and England was immersed in terrible times before and after the beheading. Charles II was a bad King, not uniting the nation, which was the reason he was recalled. Now what will his descendant, Charles III do? Will he be a good king or not. Will he prove the necessity, the usefulness, the positivity of continuing this monarchy or will he empower the antimonarchists? Time will tell, though I wonder how or if his mother will rest in the afterlife, in peace, as she watches what follows the end of her reign.
Certainly, there are few of her caliber in the world's leadership ranks. The other reigning monarchs of the world are in smaller, less influential countries, lead quieter lives, or have been found to be antiquated anachronisms and the monarchy dissolved. Good? Bad? Who the hell knows in this crazed world of ours where morality is more honored in the breach than in the keeping, where good and bad are conflated and 'leaders' honored for behavior and crimes most egregiously calling out for consequences up to and including incarceration.
Our leaders have failed us. I hope that at night, in this world, they do not rest in peace, for their foibles, their inadequacies, are existentially threatening, certainly negating, our ability and privilege to rest in peace. Worried about today's world, we are even more troubled, at unrest, as we contemplate a miserable world we are leaving behind for our descendants.
Reading of the discovery of two quite likely hospitable planets I groan, more chaos, more turbulence, merely a transfer of the idiocy that has befallen the people of this planet Earth, as we proceed to destroy two more. Unless we learn new ways, forgo our stubbornness in perceiving the true reality, the true difficulties, and learn to pick and choose carefully, realistically, always with the benefit of humanity in mind, rather than the individual, well, hope is slim indeed.
What has happened to us; how have we fallen so low? Why have we left, by the wayside, ditched, in the drowning mud and detritus of a nation gone wrong, all our once noble dreams? How has this come to pass, and can it be alleviated, even turned around? Only G-d and His Prophets know, and despite the claims of some to being the spokespeople for G-d, their god, they are empty cannisters making lots of noise, producing only harm and negativity, incapable of anything positive or worthwhile. There appears before us nothing more than a big empty chair, noticeably empty, vacant of a befitting occupant, unoccupied for too long, the seat of a true leader, a person who has sacrificed much for the good of the people. A most difficult task, an awesome responsibility, yet for us to rest in peace, to live in peace, it is incumbent upon us to find that someone, a good someone, not an evil man out for the good of himself, his henchmen, spouting poisonous words, pushing hatred and falsehoods, and only serving to lead us deeper and deeper into hostile quagmires.
Closer to home, here in the USA, why must a leader be forced to call out a noisy, dangerous group of people who have turned upon this nation and once fellow Americans. Biden says, “They’re entitled to be outrageous, this is a democracy,” he said, but added: “Good manners is nothing they’ve ever suffered from, but history and common sense tell us that opportunity, liberty and justice for all are most likely to come to pass in a democracy.” He reminds us of their true level -and their right to be so, but do they have the right to turn traitor, to destroy this nation? I think not. Despite his reminder that “Look, everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.” we must be sure that their innate idiocy does not perpetrate permanent harm to us, to the fabric of the nation. The nation's integrity as a nation, for as a free, powerful, positive force in the world must remain always there, ever present in reach and ever in use.
I have not 'rested in peace' at night, nor in the daytime for quite some time. Nor have many people, and I wonder what our national heroes, sung and unsung, are thinking as they sit around the clouds, watching, sadly, what has become of their dream.
We must not fail them. We must not fail ourselves. We must not fail our descendants.
Past, Present and Future are in our hands.
May we emulate the qualities of the good leaders, even the great, even the faulty, human ones who nevertheless contribute to the improvement of mankind. Let us recognize and reject, turn away from the fakers, the evil, the nasty, the incompetent. The evil, and yes, there is evil in and among us.
Choices, before we can rest in peace.
Requiescat, Queen ELizabeth II.
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