Real Royalty

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We couldn’t believe we were about to see a bona fide princess up close. Lady Diana was making her way out of London’s royal performance of “Romeo and Juliet” when we found ourselves planted ten feet from where she would walk.

Daughters Julia and Linnea, desperate to meet her, were listening carefully to a bobby’s instructions: “If you shout at Her Royal Highness,” he said, “don’t use her name. You must address her as ‘ma’m’. Nothing else is acceptable.”

Wanting to be accepted, the girls were rehearsing their shout-out when Diana suddenly appeared. For an instant they were speechless as hundreds of flashbulbs popped, making her sparkle like the star she was.

As the bobby predicted, she scanned the barricaded crowd, including two adorable little girls within six feet of her. But when her gaze swept toward us, our daughters wildly waved their bouquet like a road crew flagging down traffic. “Ma’m! Ma’m!” they screamed. “Over here! We’re from America! We love you!”

Diana graciously acknowledged the crowd’s applause and then abruptly made a beeline for us. As she arrived in her sparkling black evening gown, our girls reached out to touch her, and she reciprocated. Linnea put a camera directly in Diana’s face (taking this photo) as Julia presented their bouquet.

The princess talked with them for several minutes as if they’d been the only ones waiting for her, after which she wished them well and said goodbye, heading for her Jaguar. She talked to no one else. As she slid into the back seat, she gently placed our wilting flowers next to her.

Mary leaned over and said, “Our humble bouquet is going to Buckingham Palace.”

As soon as the princess had pulled away, the crowd dispersed, and bobbies disassembled the barricades. But though the moment had passed, our girls held tightly to their celebrity high. Literally skipping toward our hotel, Linnea agreed with Julia who said: “If God killed me right now, I’d feel like my life was complete!”

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Another globally-known “celebrity” who even trumps Diana is Jesus. As he performed miracles, his disciples wondered why he shunned recognition by cautioning everyone to keep quiet about him. “Why don’t you pursue fame?” they said. “Show the world what you can do!”

But Jesus refused, saying his time to be famous hadn’t yet come.

He meant that it wasn’t quite time for him to die for mankind’s sins. After his death he would, indeed, become globally famous, and he was eager for that because it would help his plan of salvation become available to everyone.

Occasionally we all brush up against fame as our girls did with Diana. Both Julia and Linnea, now deeply rooted in love for the Lord, look back and laugh at going gaga over the princess. They know, as all of us should, there’s only one Person who deserves such hero-worship, and that’s our Lord. Putting anyone else on a pedestal of adoration only leads to disappointment.

In the long run, Jesus will be the only royalty that really matters.

Jesus said, “It is the one who is least among you all, who is the greatest.” (Luke 9:48)

Rich and Famous

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In 1993 my mom and Aunt Joyce put together a two week trip to Sweden for 6 of us: my sister Mary and I, our two oldest daughters (Julia and Linnea), and themselves. Off we flew to visit relatives and see the sights, two teenagers, two 40-somethings, and two 70-somethings.

After a delightful time with gracious extended family and lots of yummy Swedish tartas (cakes), we headed home by way of a 3 day stay in London. As our plane approached Heathrow Airport, we discussed what sights each of us hoped to see. Our daughters had only one request, “We wanna meet Princess Diana!”

We 4 adults chuckled at their far-fetched idea, since Lady Di was the darling of the royal family at that time, and more people clamored to see her than Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth combined. The international press charted her every move, and she seemed to have the world on a string. Why would she want to meet with a handful of assertive Americans?

After settling in at our downtown hotel, Mom and Aunt Joyce gratefully put their feet up while the rest of us set out to find a princess, someone we weren’t even sure was currently in the country.

As we walked into the night without a clue about where we were going, the girls collected information from strangers passing by. They learned that their favorite celebrity was, indeed, in the country and that she was actually in London at a theater within walking distance of us. Excitement grew as we raced toward the royal dance performance of “Romeo and Juliet.” Our girls hoped Lady Di wanted to meet them as much as they wanted to meet her.

When we got to the theater at 10:30 PM, a small crowd was gathering outside, and police were setting up barricades to keep us away from Diana. Fifteen feet from the front door stood her dark green Jaguar at-the-ready much like Cinderella’s coach. Diana’s driver was waiting beside the car door.

Julia and Linnea, ever hopeful, told a tall, handsome bobby they just had to meet Diana and wanted to know how they could. Bemused by their boldness but wanting to help he said, “She may head for her car or mingle with the crowd, depending on her mood. But if you want to ‘up’ your chances, go buy a bouquet. The princess likes to be photographed with flowers.”

Off they went in search of any kind of flowers they could find at 11:00 pm. Returning in 15 minutes with two bedraggled bunches of orange day lilies, they pushed their way through the growing crowd to the front where we’d saved their places next to the barricade. Their bobby friend smiled at their wilting lilies but had some bad news. Diana also liked to be photographed with young children, and in their absence, two adorably dressed little girls had arrived with their mum and were standing near the theater door.

It was a toss-up. Would the princess go for the girls, the flowers, or the dark green Jaguar? All eyes were riveted on the front door, and when we heard dignified clapping coming from inside the theater, we knew she was on her way out.

(…to be continued)

“God shows no favoritism… He accepts those who fear him and do what is right.” (Acts 10:34-35)

 

An Interest in Interruptions

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Last night when I snuggled under my own quilt in my own bed I thanked God I wasn’t over-nighting in a hospital like the night before. Not that Rush isn’t a beautiful facility with a solicitous staff, but all of us rest best in our own beds. My 14 hour stay in the ER was an unexpected interruption to my weekend plans, but when it was over, that’s all it had been: an interruption.

All of us like to plan our lives, even people like me who aren’t that organized. We enjoy predicting what’ll happen when, then watching it work out exactly that way. When interruptions rearrange things, we get annoyed. It feels like riding in a people-packed car and being asked to squeeze in a few more. Ugh.

Jesus was a champion at shuffling his day to embrace interruptions. If he resented them, Scripture doesn’t let us know. We might think, “Yes, but when someone stopped him it was for an important reason. My interruptions are small potatoes.”

But Jesus had a choice of how to respond in each case, just as we do. Although we’ve never heard the literal voice of Jesus, I can’t imagine him reacting in a biting tone, “Get away from me! I don’t have time right now.”

Others around him sometimes said that, but never him. He seemed to view an approaching interrupter as a chance to get to know a stranger or satisfy a need. I wish I could faithfully mimic that, but rearranging plans doesn’t come without balking first. It requires setting aside what I’ve already set as my #1 priority and substituting something lesser, at least lesser to me.

But as we watch Jesus, he acts just the opposite. The Bible says, in reference to his responses to interruptions, “He was deeply moved,” or “He felt compassion.”  Sometimes he was hit with so many consecutive interruptions he didn’t even have a chance to eat or time to rest, yet he continued to steadily dispense kindness and grace.

If I resist the interruptions God sends (which he doesn’t label as interruptions), I could be missing out on some of life’s greatest perks. Jesus held each day lightly, even each hour, faithfully watching for his Father’s signals to do this or that, go left or right. Humanly speaking, he didn’t know what awaited, and no doubt there were situations he didn’t want to participate in, episodes that brought on stress. But when he cooperated, which was always, miracles happened. And he got to take part in them.

It’s possible that the more I’m willing to embrace interruptions with anticipation, the greater my chance of participating in God’s miracles… even if some day it means trying to get cozy in a hospital bed.

“Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and… he healed them. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people.” (Matthew 15:30,32)