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GAZETTE

         "I give thee my troth."  A curious word that I've heard before, maybe in an old movie or in Shakespeare.  We kind of know what it means because of the context in which it was recently spoken by William and Kate in The Royal Wedding. 

         In truth, which helps define troth, it means fidelity, good faith, loyalty, trust.  If one is true to someone, one is loyal to that person.  Sounds good to me.  I like it.  And I liked watching The Royal Wedding.

         There are a few scoffers -- those who mock and say, "Who cares about royalty?" -- and I scoff at them.  What is wrong with being caught up in a royal wedding at Westminster Abbey?  It's better than the normal fare of network and cable TV, which often takes us to Iraq and Afghanistan and Pakistan and Libya and Cairo where we witness the lack of civility in city streets, in the light of day as well as the dark of night.

         I suggest that it is very human to orchestrate occasions of pomp and circumstance and that it is very human to be interested and intrigued by the pomp and circumstance of our own occasions as well as the occasions of others.  It's part of being civilized.  We do it for Baptisms and First Communions and Confirmations and Graduations and Weddings and Funerals.  Which ones did I miss?

         And I suggest that it is very inhuman to be caught up in war and strife, terror and violence.  Humans are supposed to exhibit the positive aspects of nature and character that differentiate us from the lower animal kingdom.  I'm not saying that humanity doesn't have weaknesses, but I'm saying that humanity is asked to work toward the strengthening of mind and character as it tries to overcome the weaknesses.  Cats and dogs can't do that.  Some animals are tame but they are not civilized -- nor prone to pomp and circumstance.

         I was especially enamored with The Royal Wedding since it took place in Westminster Abbey, that magnificent Christian church that has a history almost as long as the British monarchy.  I kept seeing how Catholic it still is, even though it's been  500 years since King Henry VIII married and beheaded his wives, threw out the Benedictine monks, and started the Anglican Church. 

         Despite that detour of long ago, the ceremony was sacred, the vestments liturgical, the atmosphere reverent, and I appreciated hearing the bride's brother read from the book of Romans, the Revised Standard Version, my favorite.  It's not dumbed down.  It's not banal.  It's clear.  "Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.  Outdo one another in showing honor.  Seek to show hospitality.  Live in harmony with one another."  Kind of tough sometimes, I know.

         The bishop's homily was outstanding.  "In a sense every wedding is a royal wedding with the bride and groom as king and queen of creation, making a new life together so that life can flow through them into the future."

         I imagined people from all around the world, from all continents, witnessing this wedding which exhibited Christianity as much as royalty.  I imagined pagans, atheists, and communists happening upon the live transmission.  I imagined Hindus and Moslems and Buddhists being caught off guard by the holiness and humility of Christianity midst all of the pomp and circumstance. 

         I also imagined secularists in our own USA being a bit chagrined by the churchiness of it all.  We mustn't ever be too churchy, you know.  Being politically correct demands putting on blinders to that part of our life, at least in public, but readers of the Gazette may have learned by now that this editor doesn't care about being politically correct. 

         Those scoffers among us say that kings and queens and royal families belong to another time period, that they are unnecessary, unwarranted, and uppity, that they're part of ancient history and their existence incites class warfare among the masses.

         Those scoffers get one thing right in this regard:  kings and queens are part of ancient history.  As a matter of fact, King David lived three thousand years ago.  Now that's ancient history.

         Even the word "kingdom" is part of ancient history, and it was also part of my education in more recent times.  In Biology 101 at the Minneota Public High School, I learned from Mr. Kelly that all living things are divided into two kingdoms:  the plant kingdom and the animal kingdom.  That could be what the Master was thinking about 2,000 years ago when He said, "My kingdom is not of this world."

         And so we see The Royal Wedding was a continuation of human history, which is ancient, with chapters still being written and happily ever after still the hoped for ending.  It was a transparent show of grace in a world that can be so ungraceful.  It was civilized behavior in a world that can be so uncivil.  And, like it or not, there is a kingdom in the next world where the line, "I give Thee my troth," takes on a whole new dimension.

May 2011