Australia’s Largest Christian News Site

“What does not kill you makes you stronger,” is a saying made famous by Friedrich Nietzsche. Professor Michael Brady explains, “Nietzsche does not seem to think that all suffering will result in strength, but rather, he is suggesting that one should take suffering as an opportunity to build strength.”

If that is the case, Princess Kate and Prince William, future heirs of the British Monarchy, are in a class of their own.

Princess Kate has just finished 9 months of chemotherapy for cancer. She celebrated the end of this time of suffering by releasing a very heartfelt 3-minute video about the stormy trial and the joy of family. It is utterly brilliant. Watch it below.

What do you think? I have watched it over half a dozen times, and I love it all the more, each time I watch it.

I believe it is a wonderfully powerful exposé on the power of “loving and being loved”, to quote the Princess.

Journalist Bronte Coy sums up the story well:

“The video message featured plenty of candid family moments. It was directed by commercial director, Will Warr, who previously worked on the Wales’ equally glossy video from behind-the-scenes of the coronation last year.

As a friend of Prince William and Kate’s told The Daily Beast, the family-centric tone is meant to be “the reset to end all resets”, and a solid insight into what we can expect when their time comes as heads of the monarchy…

“It helps that they actually are like this. If you go to a kid’s birthday party at their house, they will be the ones organising games for all the kids whereas the rest of us would happily get an entertainer in and be drinking wine in the kitchen.”

Meanwhile, during an engagement in Wales the day after the video statement was released, William told well-wishers that the end of his wife’s chemotherapy was “good news” but admitted that “there is still a long way to go.”

It echoed Kate’s hopeful but cautious tone in her statement, as she explained that she was now focusing on doing what she can “to stay cancer-free”.

“The cancer journey is complex, scary and unpredictable for everyone, especially those closest to you,” she said in a voice-over, as clips of herself and William, spending time with their three children – Prince George, 11, Princess Charlotte, nine and Prince Louis, six – were shown.

“ … Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes.

“Despite all that has gone before, I enter this new phase of recovery with a renewed sense of hope and appreciation of life.”

The video almost becomes a prayer at the end, with the invocation: “To all those who are continuing their own cancer journey – I remain with you, side by side, hand in hand. Out of darkness, can come light, so let that light shine bright.”

The best way to deal with disaster is to love it out of existence. Sadly, we all experience some level of disaster in our lives. In worst-case scenarios, people lose their lives in their personal battle with disaster. That’s why it is important to have a hope beyond the grave.

I am given to believe that Kate and William are not particularly religious, but that is not what I am picking up in this carefully crafted video. The last line of Kate’s video says it all, “Out of darkness, can come light, so let that light shine bright.”

This video tells me that this family is deeply committed to the path of love, come what may. I really aspire to the same conviction and affirmation, but I often fall far short.

I must admit Bronte Coy’s insider insight into William and Kate’s playing games with their children at the children’s birthday parties, instead of drinking wine in the kitchen with their friends, really challenged me.

I must confess that, at times, I would be much more likely to be having coffee in the kitchen with my friends than playing games with my children at their birthday parties. Then again, I am a very selfish individual, and I am sure you are not like me!

Lovework

Play the video to your wife and ask her what she thinks about it. Do the same with your children. Then ask this question of your wife and of your children. How can I be a better husband, and how can I be a better dad, and how can we be a better family, in the light of the video that we all just watched? Get ready to take notes. After all, who are you doing this for? Is this all about you, or is this all about your wife and your children and the greater power of love?

Much Love,
Warwick Marsh

___

Republished with thanks to Dads4Kids.