We are somewhat recovered from the weekend now. What a memorable weekend it was for us! On Monday morning I was recounting the events of the weekend with our girls, observing that it was no wonder they were so tired. As I was listing all the things that had been going with our new church, Maggie pointed out that we had also had the royal wedding! Of course – the royal wedding – no wonder they are exhausted!
Here in the UK, we officially had a 4 day weekend because of the wedding on Friday and the May Day bank holiday on Monday. The last four days will always be remembered by us as the weekend we saw the royal wedding, held the induction service, experienced my first day as pastor in Rhuddlan, and then awakened to the news that Osama bin Laden was dead. What strange juxtapositions we often encounter: a royal wedding watched by billions, full of pageantry and extravagance – followed for us by a simple service in a small chapel, attended by 100 people and hardly noticed by anyone else; a beautiful “common” girl marries a prince and the world celebrates – then two days later a bearded extremist is assassinated, and the world celebrates again. World-wide fame for each, but for very different reasons.
In the big picture, it’s a good reminder that we live in a fallen world, where joyous events can quickly be overshadowed by darker happenings. On an individual level, the wedding was fun, fascinating, and maybe even a little inspiring. But for us, beginning our ministry in Rhuddlan will prove to have far more abiding – even eternal!- significance than any other event of the weekend.