We'll meet again

The Queen's message displayed at Piccadilly Circus

'We will be with our friends again, we will be with our families again; we will meet again' the Queen told the nation in her Sunday night broadcast.

Many people have seen an allusion to Vera Lynn's wartime classic, but at least one commentator, noting the repeated use of the word 'again' and the Queen's own long held Christian faith, has detected a reference to resurrection faith.

My own thoughts when I heard Her Majesty saying the words 'we will meet again' turned to those wonderful words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 which  speak of the living and the departing meeting together with the Lord in a joyful reunion on the day that he returns.

That hope is the subject of the final prayer in the funeral service:

May God in his infinite love and mercy bring the whole Church, living and departed in the Lord Jesus, to a joyful resurrection and the fulfilment of his eternal kingdom. Amen.

So, let's hold on to our resurrection faith, and know that, in Christ, we will meet again, both those living and departed in the Lord Jesus.