Theology of Monarchy for the 21st Century

 I recently listened to this lecture as I put together a toddler bed for our 2 year old.  I have said for years, half (but only half) jokingly, that I'd prefer to live in a constitutional monarchy.  While I treasure the values described in our declaration of Independence, I also believe that there is no "perfect system" of government (not in this fallen world, anyhow) and that there are some benefits to a constitutional monarchy with real, but limited powers. 

One of the points that really struck a chord in the lecture is the idea that, in a monarchy, the citizen is related to a person who governs us, rather than a system.  Of course, a person can be bad, foolish, tyrannical, or incompetent to govern, or worse.  But a king is still a person... and we are spiritually wired to relate to persons.  A system can, at best, be impartial and just... or at worse be convaluted, byzantine, unresponsive or dysfunctional.

And, of course, a system is made up of many persons, sometimes working at cross-purposes with one another.  But they are bureaucrats; they are largely anonymous to the people who are governed by them.  At least we know who (for better or worse) the king is. 

I suspect that one reason that many in our country have gravitated toward not only populisms but "big personalities" like, say, Donald Trump (or perhaps even Barak Obama) in recent years is a desire for a personality at the top, and not only a system.  Anyways, those are some random thoughts on this lecture: