A hard time to write
For the past week, many writers have expressed their feelings about the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. For some, moments of deep emotion burst out of you in rhyme or prose. Some shared their writing on Facebook, tweeted on Twitter, photoshopped it for Instagram or made a video for YouTube or TikTok. Many of you, no doubt, wrote something in the Book of Condolence on royal.uk. Some of you wrote a blog.
It seems to me like everybody is writing something. But I find it hard to write. If my blog were not the day after the Queen's funeral, I might have avoided writing about it altogether.
I wonder why, when others find it a time to write, I find it a hard time to write?
Perhaps some of us don't feel that we have the eloquence or the talent to do such a grand moment justice. So for fear of failure, we stay silent.
For some, writing is therapy, a way to work through deep emotions. However, not everyone is ready to confront such potential pain with a barrage of words. So for fear of being overwhelmed, we stay silent.
For some, we don't feel as much as everyone else seems to be feeling, like those prepared to queue for eleven hours for a brief moment of honouring the queen as she lies in state. So for fear of being trite, we stay silent.
Some of us prefer to keep our words and thoughts to ourselves. Like precious pearls, there's a time to put them on display and a time to treasure them within your own heart. So we stay silent.
Am I really afraid to write about our late Queen? Or is it ok to allow this moment to pass me by and let others with more eloquence speak? Perhaps for some of us, it's a time to read and allow other people's words express our own feelings and emotion.
Today I overcame my fear and I wrote about the Queen. I went to the book of condolence and I gave my contribution. I know my trite words don't do such a moment justice. I know others with more talent have expressed themselves with far more beauty and reverence. I know others feel more deeply about her passing then I do and I know that writing about her reminds me of all the other people I've lost over the years.
Yet I'm glad I wrote something. Even when it's a hard time to write.
Joanne Gilchrist is mother of 3 and runs the charity, Ruach Resources, which is the home of God for Kids app and the Animals of Eden Valley series (a series of almost 4).
She also wrote the autobiographical "Looking for Love", "Next Steps to Following Jesus" for children and freelances for the SunScool app.
Personally, I'd not have minded if you didn't write a serious piece about the Queen... I don't think it'd have been disrespect or failure! Today is of course 'the day after' when the royals will begin a well earned rest and reflect week. We need to give lot of hope and prayer for King Charles, as well...
ReplyDeleteThanks for your honesty, Jo. A sensitively written blog x
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteI totally get that. I chose to write about her through the lens of my grandmother and the wider Royal Family. That felt right to me. I often look at others' words and think "How can they do that when I can't?" We all have our precious pearls (love that) and I thank you for sharing yours today.
ReplyDeleteThank you too x
DeleteOr maybe there isn't any kind of obligation to make any of this about the Queen, and that's absolutely fine. I'm an Anglican lay minister but I have been a little uncomfortable with some of the wording of the prayers for the Queen and the Royal Family produced by the Church of England and even the Bible Reading Fellowship. I have zero problems with praying for them as fellow human beings and as representatives of the state, but the idealisation of royalty and a subtle expectation that everyone will feel the same during a time of national mourning has grated on me. I respect my nation's grief but personally I have felt distant from it - I'm more preoccupied with my own family bereavements that have stacked up over the years. I did find the late Queen's funeral service very beautiful and moving and also wonderfully evangelistic (and cathartic). And it is of course a momentous slice of history. But it's fine to use the sad occasion of her passing as a channel to write something else that isn't necessarily related. xx
ReplyDeleteLovely post,thank you Joanne! I didn't know there was a book of condolence! Will put my in before the weekend is out. I too found it a hard time to write as it refreshed my bereavemet in May. All the same, the living should do their bit! Blessings.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I appreciate this. x
ReplyDeleteI couldn't write about the Queen either, until the day of her funeral, and then it was just a short Facebook post about how her choice of hymn had made me cry. I did write in a condolence book - but found it hard to say more than just 'Thank you'.
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