賛助会員　春海　二郎

（筆者は長年、在日イギリス大使館に勤務し、イギリス関係情報を独自に発信するサイト「むささびジャーナル」の運営をしている）

BBCなどによると今年の英国、特にイングランド南部は嵐に見舞われて2万4000世帯が停電するなどしてタイヘンなクリスマスになってしまったとのことです。そんな中で、12月25日午後3時にエリザベス女王のクリスマス・メッセージが放映・放送された。今年を振り返って、ひ孫のジョージ王子が生まれたこと、自分自身が戴冠60周年を迎えたことなどを述べているのですが、メッセージは次のような言葉で始まっています。

I once knew someone who spent a year in a plaster castrecovering from an operation on his back. He read a lot, and thought a lot, and felt miserable. Later, he realised this time of forced retreat from the world had helped him to understand the world more clearly.

私の知り合いに、背中の手術を受けたのち一年間をギブスをはめた状態で過ごさなければならなかった人がおります。彼はたくさんの本を読み、いろいろなことを考え、情けない気分に陥りもしました。しかしあとになって、世の中からの隠遁を余儀なくされたその時間によって彼は世の中のことがよりはっきりと分かるようになったことに気がついたのだそうです。

このギブスをはめた知り合いについては、メッセージの最後の方でもう一度触れられます。

In the year ahead, I hope you will have time to pause for moments of quiet reflection. As the man in the plaster cast discovered, the results can sometimes be surprising.

これからの迎える年において、皆さまがちょっと立ち止まって静かに想いにふけるときを持たれることを希望します。あのギブスをはめた男性と同じように（静かな思索の）結果が驚くべきものになることもあるのです。

というわけです。

8分半ほどのスピーチですが、この中にreflect/reflectionという言葉が8回も出てきます。この言葉は光などが「反映・反射する」という意味もありますが、静かに・真剣に「想う」（thinking seriously）という意味もあり、メッセージでは後者の意味で使われています。今年のクリスマス・メッセージのテーマのようです。

• quiet personal reflection（独りで静かに想う）
• I myself had cause to reflect this year（自分にも今年は振り返るべき理由がある）
• reflection is not just about looking back（過去を振り返ることだけが思索ではない）
  

メッセージの原文は次のとおりですが、BBCによるとクリスマス・メッセージだけは最初から最後まで女王自身で書くもので、政府や役人がドラフト（案）を書くということはないのだそうです。

 

I once knew someone who spent a year in a plaster cast recovering from an operation on his back. He read a lot, and thought a lot, and felt miserable.

Later, he realised this time of forced retreat from the world had helped him to understand the world more clearly.

We all need to get the balance right between action andreflection. With so many distractions, it is easy to forget to pause and take stock. Be it through contemplation, prayer, or even keeping a diary, many have found the practice of quiet personal reflection surprisingly rewarding, even discovering greater spiritual depth to their lives.

Reflection can take many forms. When families and friends come together at Christmas, it’s often a time for happy memories and reminiscing. Our thoughts are with those we have loved who are no longer with us. We also remember those who through doing their duty cannot be at home for Christmas, such as workers in essential or emergency services.

And especially at this time of year we think of the men and women serving overseas in our armed forces. We are forever grateful to all those who put themselves at risk to keep us safe.

Service and duty are not just the guiding principles of yesteryear; they have an enduring value which spans the generations.

I myself had cause to reflect this year, at Westminster Abbey, on my own pledge of service made in that great church on Coronation Day 60 years earlier.

The anniversary reminded me of the remarkable changes that have occurred since the Coronation, many of them for the better; and of the things that have remained constant, such as the importance of family, friendship and good neighbourliness.

But reflection is not just about looking back. I and many others are looking forward to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year.

The baton relay left London in October and is now the other side of the world, on its way across 70 nations and territories before arriving in Scotland next summer. Its journey is a reminder that the Commonwealth can offer us a fresh view of life.

My son Charles summed this up at the recent meeting in Sri Lanka. He spoke of the Commonwealth’s ‘family ties’ that are a source of encouragement to many. Like any family there can be differences of opinion. But however strongly they’re expressed they are held within the common bond of friendship and shared experiences.

Here at home my own family is a little larger this Christmas.

As so many of you will know, the arrival of a baby gives everyone the chance to contemplate the future with renewed happiness and hope. For the new parents, life will never be quite the same again.

As with all who are christened, George was baptised into a joyful faith of Christian duty and service. After the christening, we gathered for the traditional photograph.

It was a happy occasion, bringing together four generations.

In the year ahead, I hope you will have time to pause for moments of quiet reflection. As the man in the plaster cast discovered, the results can sometimes be surprising.

For Christians, as for all people of faith, reflection, meditation and prayer help us to renew ourselves in God’s love, as we strive daily to become better people. The Christmas message shows us that this love is for everyone. There is no one beyond its reach.

On the first Christmas, in the fields above Bethlehem, as they sat in the cold of night watching their resting sheep, the local shepherds must have had no shortage of time for reflection. Suddenly all this was to change. These humble shepherds were the first to hear and ponder the wondrous news of the birth of Christ – the first noel – the joy of which we celebrate today.

I wish you all a very happy Christmas.

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