The event, that includes events of variety and multiplicity,
in the United Kingdom and the British Commonwealth, is the
Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – Jubilee
Day in Tuesday June 4. We add our congratulations to the Queen
on attaining a distinction in length of reign equal only to
those of King George III and Queen Victoria. Every year in
our Twelfth of July resolution on loyalty we pay our respects
to her; convey our prayerful good wishes for her health and
happiness and express our grateful appreciation of what she
does as the Queen of total commitment and absolute dependability.
Our loyalty and devotion to Her Majesty, so regularly expressed,
is a reason why we should now think on the way she has travelled
in the five decades from youth to age in the service of her
peoples. There have been very many situations and circumstances
in which by her presence, shared knowledge and experience,
she contributed to good decisions and successful outcomes
for Prime Ministers, and others in leadership roles, who have
freely acknowledged their indebtedness to her. She has earned
love and respect for qualities which are to be admired and
copied – sincerity, constancy, honesty and sensitivity
among them. We have admired her determination to retain what
is of intrinsic worth in the British monarchy. There is always
the evidence that she holds very dear the Christian faith
and the practice of it, in the public worship of God in her
established churches of England and Scotland. While there
is sympathy with, understanding and appreciation of those
whose faith is different, whether Christian or other religions
or none, the emphasis is on the vows and promises of her enthronement.
She holds fast to the Reformed faith and the Protestant succession
to the Throne. The Queen has maintained and improved the status
of monarchy in the United Kingdom. Her father and mother,
King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, had the task of steadying
it after the abdication of King Edward VIII. She has made
the alternative a dream of a minority whose pleas for a republic
are being ignored, and increasingly, in this Golden Jubilee
year. Her interest in and concern for us in Northern Ireland
has meant much to us and her visits have been greatly appreciated.
We know from those who have talked with her that her consideration
for us is real and personal. Not only does she like coming
here: she likes us who live here. The 50 years of her reign
have seen amazing and incredible happenings in most fields
of human endeavour. Progress has been made in science, commerce,
industry, health, education and recreation, however what makes
the changes so marked is that it is almost unrecognisable
with what was a half century ago. In our situation and in
spite of 30 years of terrorist attacks on persons and property,
there have been momentous changes, improvements in standards
of living. Housing, education, recreation and benefits for
the perennially poor, are very much better. Even the National
Health Service, often criticised, has produced vast improvements
in accommodation, specialisations – medical and surgical,
preventive medicine, care for the aged and infirm and those
with mental and physical disabilities and handicaps. Career
opportunities, the benefit of education for everyone, has
meant that the sons and daughters of labourers and artisans,
and their female equivalents, whose education was grievously
restricted, are business tycoons, professionals in every field
of study and service. No top job is beyond the reach of the
ambitious, dedicated and successful employee. In life, however,
there are always gains and losses. Neighbouring is discounted.
It was a characteristic of the urban situation when the population
was but a generation or two away from their rural roots. Less
evident is respect for the elderly. The absence of parental
control, broken marriages and single parents, the break-down
of discipline in schools with a multiplicity of crimes against
person and property, are pressing problems for the guardians
of law and order and society generally. A demoralised and
inadequate police service is a contributory factor in the
lawlessness of which society is the victim. The constancy
of Her Majesty the Queen and the example she sets in commitment
to her people are qualities which are needed in the continuous
struggle of society to make itself better for everyone in
it to live peacefully and happily. The benefits are there
and the weaknesses are apparent, the evils legion and the
needs of deprived people undeniable. At every level of life
there has to be greater determination to conquer what is destructive
of the life, liberty and happiness of the people. Whatever
may be said about the Golden Jubilee, a commitment to improve
society, and to remove from it the evils which torment it,
would be a proper recognition and celebration of the reign
of a Queen whose example in selflessness is to be copied by
all of us.
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