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Okay, well, what's going on out there in the world? I hadn't spent much time thinking about

the British monarchy. I guess I've always had a good American skepticism about the validity

of the institution. But Andrew Sullivan just wrote a really wonderful short piece,

mourning the loss of the Queen, that gave me, I think, for the first time an appreciation of the

value of a constitutional monarchy. At one point he quotes CS Lewis, who wrote,

were men are forbidden to honor a king. They honor millionaires, athletes, or film stars,

instead, even famous prostitutes or gangsters. For spiritual nature, like bodily nature,

will be served, denied food, and it will gobble poison. I disagree with Lewis about many things.

I've always thought his defense of Christianity was fairly visible. And I'm not even sure I agree

with this quotation entirely, but there's something interesting there. And Sullivan continues

writing, the crown represents something from the ancient past, a logically indefensible but

emotionally salient symbol of something called a nation, something that gives its members meaning

and happiness. However, shitty the economy or awful the prime minister or ugly the discourse,

the monarch is able to represent the nation all the time in a living, breathing, mortal person.

So anyway, this, as I said, gave me something to think about as though for the first time.

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