21 Sep Keep Calm and Carry On
It was the longest queue in history. Hundreds of thousands of people came to pay their last respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, whose coffin was lying in state in Westminster Hall.
The queue snaked for miles and miles through London. People joined the line and waited for 10 or 12 or even 24 hours, slowly shuffling forward.
People waiting together in small groups were strangers at first, likely having little in common with the person next to them other than happening to turn up at the same time to join the queue.
By the end, strangers knew some of each other’s deepest, darkest secrets and were willing to do whatever it took to help those around them get to the finish line – holding space and looking after each other with the kindest displays of humanity, perhaps offering a warm cup of coffee or a hug or a listening ear for those having a good cry.
People talked about moments of togetherness and the unexpected bonds that formed along the way.
Toward the front of the line, people learned that nothing could be brought into the catafalque. This surprised some of the people waiting. There were tales of the scramble at the end – attempts by those in the queue to give away whatever they had, distributing whatever they were carrying to others still in line.
And then, past the security gates, people spoke of the silence. The way everything became quiet in the most sudden way.
Perhaps we are all in the queue, in a way.
As Ram Dass said,
We are all on this journey together.
A little broken and a little shattered inside.
Each one of us is aspiring to make it to the end.
None is deprived of pain here and we have all suffered in our own ways.
Let’s just help each other make it to the end more beautifully.
Our love and pain and hope and loss go somewhere with each step. We wait as part of a whole, connected to everything on this journey together, as we walk each other home.