Hello, Your Majesty

Hello Friends and Family,

I’ve got a lot to report on!

First of all, I saw the queen! It was amazing! So, last Wednesday I was in Oxford for a meeting with some Air Force staff who were in the UK, visiting all the different USAF students across England. It turns out there are about 20 of us on sundry different scholarships and research grants. That’s an aside. Anyway, I was walking down the street, and I saw a bunch of commotion by one of the museums. So I stroll on over, wedge my way into the crowd just in time to see Her Majesty walk by, get into her car, and get driven away.

It was pretty cool. Interestingly, the whole thing was very low key. Her only security was a bunch of motorcycles and one extra car. Her windows were clear, not tinted, so she could wave while she drove by. The crowd was only about 200 or so – in fact, at first I assumed we were waiting for just some minor celebrity. We waved, and then dispersed. I always thought that for the queen of England, there would be horse-drawn carriages, secret-service style police, trumpeters with banners dangling from their horns...

As cool as that was, the next day I got to tour No. 10 Downing St with the Marshall Scholars. It’s not normally open to the public, so the custodians were our tour guides. One of them had worked there for 15 years or so, and had lots of stories to tell about various dignitaries visiting. I sat in Winston Churchill’s reading chair (the seams on the arms are frayed, because he had the bad habit of picking them when he was nervous or deep in thought). I saw the desk where Chamberlin signed the infamous words “peace in our time.” I sat at the cabinet table. I saw the candlesticks that were made when King George was on the throne. I saw the staircase that was in the movie Love Actually. I stood in the room where Lord Nelson met the Duke of Wellington. It was absolutely incredible.

But again, I was surprised at how low key it was in the whole scheme of things. It was really just a large house turned into the Prime Minister’s house/office. It clearly wasn’t designed for a head of state. There are no massive halls, no ornate ballrooms, no sweeping dining rooms like some of the countryside mansions near Sheffield... there is no indoor theatre or vast gardens like the White House... It’s a just large, old house that was serendipitously turned into the office of one of the most powerful men of the western world (granting the common use of ‘powerful’). Crazy cool.

Then on top of all that, we got to have a Q&A with Gordon Brown’s Private Secretary of Foreign Affairs – who advises the Prime Minster on all matters relating to foreign affairs. He’s the one who reminds the PM of dignitaries’ names just before he enters a meeting, and is the first one to talk to him after the meeting. Not surprisingly, he had the charisma and charm you would expect of a top diplomat. But he looked pretty young to be a senior civil servant. He told us lots of stories about G.W. and Obama. He gave us a little insight into the PM’s life. He talked about the different methods they use when working with different foreign leaders. They said they loved the DVDs Obama gave them on the visit (in return, they gave Obama a nameplate carved out of the wood from the same ship that the presidential desk is made out of. Hmm... Box set of DVDs, $100... Historic artefact, priceless... Box set of DVDs, Fun... Historic artefact, priceless...)

It was fascinating to get a glimpse of how the PM does his job. Before, I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must be like to try to run a nation, win a war, ease a recession... But now I see. He works amazingly hard and surrounds himself with sound advisors. He doesn’t have to know everything about everything... There is obviously a lot more to it than just that, but my point is that he suddenly seems human. He is not a super-human machine. He’s just a man who does the best job he can. Now, I’m not his biggest fan by any means, but I do have a lot of respect for him – perhaps more so now, having realised all this. Well...

In other news, Stuart & Suzanne, a family in our church and good, good friends, are heading back to Australia on Saturday to help set up the theology/missions/Christian living/church planting course that the Crowded House developed (my church), and to be involved in church plant in Sydney. Stuart and Suzanne have been a massive encouragement to me over the past year, both in friendship and company, was well as giving me very wise advice on career choices, relationships, life, and everything. We try to emphasise sharing life together in our church, which Stuart and Suzanne modelled well. They are more than simply 'like' family to me; In a very real sense, they are part of my family.

The only trouble is that it makes it so much harder to say goodbye. They had me over for goodness knows how many breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. They took me on holiday with them in France. We went hiking together lots. I saw them almost every Saturday morning at the ESL class we run... I’ll miss them a lot. They also have a 6 week old baby, Eloise, who only just learned to smile. She won’t remember Uncle Will! Sad. But exciting at the same time. It’s exciting to think of how God might use them down there. It’s exciting to think that God is at work all over the world, not just Sheffield. And it is exciting to know that we will meet again and not have to say goodbye – that’s not a promise or wishful thinking, it’s a certainty, demonstrated for the world to see in Jesus’ resurrection.

Bon Voyage, friends!

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Will