This is the first Cherry News article I have written with a new King. As the country adjusts to His Majesty Charles III being the reigning monarch, we expect to see changes to the familiar face on our coins, stamps, and banknotes. Over time the image of this king will replace that of Her Majesty Elizabeth II, and we wait to see what other differences, if any, Charles will bring, with different media pundits speculating on what sort of a king he will be. Will he continue in the style of his mother, or will he steer a new course based on his interests and character?
While only history will tell, I suspect one trait that he like the Queen will display is that of encourager. Encourager is probably not a characteristic that may first jump to mind as you think of the Royal Family. Yet during her reign, she carried out more than 15,000 official engagements. Some of these were hosting visiting heads of state and leading the nation in Remembrance and celebratory events. The majority though were smaller less elaborate affairs as the Queen focused on encouraging the works of others, visiting charities, hospitals, business, and schools. Across her lifetime, she lent her name and support to over 600 charities by becoming patron to them. Her patronage increased the profile of those charities and raised awareness in the public for their important work but importantly provided a source of encouragement to their staff and volunteers.
Over the last 45 years the Princes Trust, founded with Prince Charles Naval severance pay, has helped and encouraged over 1 million young people. Encouragement is at the heart of leadership, a trait displayed by Queen Elizabeth and Charles alike. But encouraging is not the sole preserve of those in power. We all both need encouragement and can change the course of people lives when we encourage. A simple act of encouraging someone can be the difference in their lives between them giving up or carrying on and achieving great things.
In the New Testament there is a man called Joseph, we find him in the book of Acts, but nobody ever calls him Joseph he is known as Barnabas – which means son of encouragement. What a great nickname, a name he earned because everywhere he went, he encouraged people. Barnabas spurred people on, restored others after setbacks and came alongside those who had great potential but were finding the going tough.
The world needs encouragers. All of us will have someone we know who needs encouragement, so be a ‘Barnabas’ and speak encouragement to them today. A simple ‘well done’ or your ‘doing well at that’ is all it may take to stop them giving up or spur them on to do more than ever before.
