Dictators live long. Their staying alive is the working out of their dictatorialship. One feeds the other. Longer and longer life, stronger and stronger dictatorialship.
The world breathes a sigh of relief, a big one, or a series of big ones, when dictators are dead. We know they will never return.
Having reflected a great deal on the death of The Queen, there was an unspoken acceptance that the news of her death was truth.
It is a point to note that the departing of some key figures have been shielded from public eyes, or such that the public could not confirm it directly, nor such information provided to affirm it.
The focus of this blog is on the period of the day when the public was informed of the seriousness of the situation. However, many live news channels gave way too much away, including their “confidence” of where the news would develop to, by turning off adverts, unsuitable music, and all wearing black attire. It’s a public declaration of an assumption that they said it’s truth anyway but… carrying the “validated” news, along with all the attire and deco, but yet to say it’s 50-50 it will end up that way, at worse she would stay in hospital for weeks to recover. One would not wear black and remove all decorations for that, first off, that would be disrespctful to her.
Focussing on the few hours, from 4 to 6 depending on various sources and senses of conviction of information, when there was no further news about The Queen’s health following the serious-sounding statement earlier in the day.
Yes, we know the family rushed to see her, and various this and that. But the focus on this page is the period of uncertainty, i.e. the nature of uncertainty.
“Unbelievable” was one aspect of how we faced that uncertainty, as she was alive and well, though certainly requiring medical attention, less than 24 hours before that.
“Acceptance” was another aspect of how we faced that uncertainty. Why, it remains unclear. Perhaps the media played a big part in “preparing” the public. There is obviously the realisation that she was at a point of her life when a slight issue could result in major health trauma that leads to great incapacitation or death. It is life as we know it. “Acceptance” is a fate-filled word that collectively somehow we have embraced it. At this point in her life, this might be what we need to come to.
With the benefit of looking back in time, traversing backward, from confirmation of death, backward to initially receiving the news of the serious condition she was in. There is a great sense, with depths of regret, that if it was not this time, the next time could come soon, and with each recurring time, the chance of death increased.
A close relation of mine, as I learned afterward, had expressed desire that the immediate family would not be at the bedside at the point of death. As it turned out, the person breathed his last when the family was approaching the venue: the uttering of the staff of who are arriving, the sound of the vehicle etc. The certainty of this person departing was so affirmative – no one was “playing dead”. Life coming to the world, departing away, is so simple.
The uncertainty of the few hours that day was marked by a general acceptance that death could well be merely pending announcement. The general silence of the population was remarkable, that very few instances, if any, occured on debunking the news, laying out counter-narratives, abusing the occasion for something else, or such other that take the public attention away. And that could have been done by some who felt they needed to help others to see the “positive” side of the situation, or “negative”. No, little or none of such took place.
Bearing with uncertainty can be ….. unbearable. The family appeared to know exactly what they needed to do, which might indicate a certain protocol had begun, which meant an event of a specific nature had occured to initiate the protocol. What did happen (e.g. some family members immediately travelled to see her), and did not happen (e.g. none of them went public to “calm” the public), collectively conveyed a certainty in the uncertainty. It is, in this sense, not an uncertainty. It is an assured fact where uncertainty is the process of healing to lead us to that fact.
A useful piece from this theme is the uncertainty of the last days of Jesus on earth: uncertainty about what Jesus was actually saying – metaphorical or physical. Some understood what Jesus conveyed. Others could not. With the event passed, it is the period of uncertainty that played a major part in the early disciples personalising the gospel message to all corners of the world.
