Today's Scripture Reading (May 25, 2023): Jeremiah 13
In the days following the
Coronation ceremony in Britain, we discovered that King Charles III had an
important audience with one of his subjects. Okay, maybe I am reading too much
into it, but if I were King Charles, this meeting would have been the most
important meeting on my schedule. No, it wasn't the one he likely had with
Britain's Prime Minister or one of the religious leaders that would be involved
in the Coronation ceremony. This audience was with a nine-year-old boy living
in Great Britain. His name? George, the son of William, the son of King Charles.
The young prince had a King-sized
problem that only the King could fix. George was concerned about something that
had to do with the coronation ceremony. Or, more precisely, Prince George was worried
about what he was being asked to wear as one of the pages whose duty was to
carry the train of the King's robe during the ceremony. The prince didn't want
to wear the white knee-length breeches and tights traditionally worn by pages
for such events. The young prince was afraid that the costume that he was to
wear would mean that the kids would make fun of him at school. I am not sure if
it is comforting or alarming that even the future King of the United Kingdom
has to worry about school bullies. But George's plea to "Grandpa Wales,"
who happened to be King of the United Kingdom, was for a change in the dress
code.
As I was thinking about this
audience between the King and his grandson, I had to remind myself that this
ceremony was more public than it had ever been. The ceremony has only been
televised twice in history, and the last time it was televised was seventy
years ago. And even then, the audience wasn't near what it was for King Charles
III. George knew that all his friends, and even those who didn't like him,
would see him in this ceremony. And so, he was concerned.
Grandpa Wales agreed with his
grandson and changed the dress code for his pages, allowing them to wear
trousers that went well with their military uniforms. And again, as a biased
grandfather of a pair of nine-year-olds, it is simply what a Grandfather does,
proving that maybe the difference between commoner and royalty might not be as
vast as we sometimes think.
Jeremiah is speaking of the
future of Judah, and he tells them that there is no doubt in his mind that they
are going to captivity. And this nation, who refused to humble themselves
before God, would now be humiliated by their enemies. They had been given every
opportunity to have an audience with the King of Kings and change the
situation, but they refused. And now, they would face the consequences of their
actions and be ridiculed by the bullies of Babylon.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
Jeremiah 14
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