One Amazing Lady

  Everybody needs a grandma. Someone we know, trust and respect, yet who, without judging, drops those pearls of wisdom into our lives grown out of many years of life experience.

   The Queen Mother was one such lady. Whether as a beloved grandmother in the Royal Family, as the Queen who wouldn't move her family out of London during World War Two, or as the nation's "dear Queen Mum", Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was cherished and respected by the people.

   Many tributes have been made as the nation prepares for her funeral on Tuesday. Prince Charles, in an ITV interview, said, "She was simply the most magical grandmother you could possibly have and I was utterly devoted to her." Others have spoken of her vibrant Christian faith which enabled her to live life to the full.

    The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey, said, "She had a deep and sustaining faith, and lived her life in the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life; a resurrection we celebrate at this Eastertide. Christian love shone through her character."

Billy Graham

   Billy Graham in his autobiography 'Just As I Am' recalls her "warm faith". He speaks of being invited with his wife Ruth to Clarence House to meet her for the first time over coffee. He says, "When we arrived she greeted us warmly and introduced us to Princess Margaret. We were there about an hour, and within five minutes we felt relaxed because they were both so gracious."

   He goes on, "More than anything, the Queen Mother always impressed me with her quiet but firm faith. The last time I preached at Windsor, as I walked in I saw her sitting over to my right with others of the Royal Family. She deliberately caught my eye and gestured slightly to let me know she was supporting me and praying for me."

   The Queen Mother and her husband King George VI wore their faith on their sleeve during the war years calling the nation to days of prayer. This was done, for example, on Sunday 26th May 1940 as the news of Dunkirk broke, and again on Sunday 8th September 1940 during the Battle of Britain and

The Queen Mother stands with her husband amid the wreckage when Buckingham Palace was bombed in 1940

on Sunday 3rd September 1942 as the build up for El Alamein began. On VE Day in 1945 the King announced to the crowds before Buckingham Palace "We give thanks to Almighty God for the victory he has granted us in Europe."

  The Queen Mother was patron of over 300 charities and organisations including a significant number of Christian ministries. Richard Fisher, chief executive of the Bible Reading Fellowship said, "She had been open about the significance of the Bible and prayer in her life." She became patron of BRF in 1952 and took part in celebrations for the charity's Silver, Golden and Diamond jubilees.

   She was also patron of the Church Army, the Shaftesbury Society, the British and Foreign Bible Society, the Girls Brigade, the Mother's Union and the YWCA.

  The Queen Mother had visited Cornwall on many occasions including the Royal Cornwall Show in 1950, 1959 and 1985, and officially opening the Tamar Bridge in April 1962. Books of condolences are available for signing in most council offices and parish churches across the county.

   The nation is poorer for her departure, but for the Queen Mum with her love of life and people "to live was Christ and to die is gain." Pray for the Royal Family, for the believers in it and among those who serve them. Pray that the testimony of the Queen Mother will speak powerfully to them in their time of sorrow. It has been interesting to note that one of her grandsons, Viscount Linley, was photographed carrying his well-worn Bible (left) as he left the funeral of his mother Princess Margaret.

   And let us give thanks for godly grandmothers and, as Timothy was challenged by Paul to do in 2 Timothy Chapter 1, continue in their faith.