The Next Century Foundation was deeply saddened by the recent passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. To reflect on this, William Morris LL.D., the Secretary General of the Next Century Foundation, has released a podcast which discusses the admirable qualities of servitude, duty and humility, amongst others, that the Queen demonstrated in her many years on the throne. In a turbulent world, her examples of leadership and covenantal love can serve as a reminder to us all about the duty that we hold towards one another and the importance of loving others. Now there is a new King, Charles III, and we have every hope that he can fulfil the legacy his Mother left and remind us all, especially our leaders, of the urgent need to protect the environment.

Listen to the podcast here:

Transcript:

Here we are. The Queen has died, long live the King. Interesting, wouldn’t you say, how influential in a quiet way Queen Elizabeth II was, mostly because of this business of duty. We all owe a duty to each other, you remember her last message to her people – she signed it ‘Your servant’, and that is really a position we should all be taking in this life. Your servant. We are the servants of all, or we should be, should we not? It’s the kind of responsibility that we have and need to have and should take on. It’s what duty is about. And, what else were her qualities? I guess to welcome strangers, I mean that was part of her duty but it’s something that we should too take on as our duty. The act of hospitality is a great, great kindness. Well, it’s more than a kindness actually, it makes the world tick in a better way. And what else? I guess to do with being a servant, which any true leader should be. There’s this business of, well what would you call it? I call it covenantal love. What I mean by that is the kind of love that God has for the world so we should have it for others. It’s the idea of loving without expectation of returns. So unconditional, you know? We love the other, we don’t do that because they love us. Because very other, love is transactional. But a true leader will have covenantal love for his or her people. They will love regardless and that is a great act of leadership. Other qualities, I guess politeness. Politeness is a small thing but a big thing. I remember I lived for a while in the sultanate of Oman and it would take me a good few minutes, well more than a few minutes, to get to my desk, because you would say hello to everybody, you wouldn’t just walk in. And you’d more than say hello, you’d say Salaam Alaikum, Kaif Halak, how’s your health, how’s your family. You would ask and they would reply. So this sort of thing matters. This sort of thing makes a difference. This sort of thing changes the world. And we need to change the world, don’t we, if we’re going to make it a better place.

God bless her, God keep her. And we move on, we have a new King. Will he be worth his salt? He will if he learns from his Mother and devotes himself to being a servant. That’s the problem with most leaders, they get too bound up in pride. We all need a sense of self-worth, don’t get me wrong, that’s very important. But leadership means humility. Just a thought about that, a lot of Christians get screwed up about the idea of humility. They think it means making themselves less in some way. And that’s not helpful nor is it true. It’s not scripturally correct, and it’s not helpful to anyone. It’s not a question of thinking yourself less, because we all need a sense of self-worth, everybody needs a sense of self-worth. And you should cherish it and hold it dear. But what humility means is doing your duty. If you are a believer, it means following what God teaches you, but even if you are not a believer, that kind of humility, that you allow yourself to be reined in, as it were, by your duty. And your duty is to care for those that are dependant on you, and primarily its that, I guess, and to love, yes, covenantally.

So, Queen Elizabeth II, she did it well, and we expect King Charles III to do as well, and we have an expectation of him. He’s an environmentalist. That’s important, given the shape of this broken world. I know in the British modern tradition Kings and Queens are not supposed to be political, but on that score he can really make a firm stand and I certainly have an expectation for him to do that in service of the world. We don’t inherit the Earth, we borrow it from our children, it’s an old line but I am disturbed by some of the people in governance in Britain now, and in other countries of the world, whom, because of their short term advantage in war and so on, are abandoning the vital climate change issue, and that’s a betrayal of our future. And I look to King Charles III, God bless him, to keep that very much in the forefront of his work as he takes on this new role. So that’s all, a short message. God bless the Queen, the Queen is dead, God bless the King. Some people say it’s not a new era, well it is a new era for me at least. There are seminal moments and there are changes. And there are lots of them. And it seems to me that we’re living in a difficult and demanding time. And this is a waypoint in a difficult and demanding time. And it does mark the beginning of a new era. So we go on, and God bless the King, God bless us all, one and all. And bless God, he needs our love, for sure. Okay, all the best, thank you.