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Good morning. It’s quite a sight when the Queen appears before the House of Lords, with the Commons crowding in the back, at the State Opening of Parliament. After the rough and tumble of the general election, with all parties saying they believe in giving power back to the people, three weeks later we behold a stately monarch wearing a magnificent crown, apparently rolling back the centuries and ruling in majesty. The usual rationale for this is that it’s a lot of pomp and circumstance before the real business of haggling over legislation begins. Besides, the tourists love it. But there’s more to it than that. Rituals aren’t simply a thing of a distant superstitious past: the Harry Potter novels are full of rites and ceremonies, the Cup Final this weekend is swathed in traditions of riding down Wembley Way and climbing the steps to receive the trophy; next month thousands of students will take degrees at graduation rituals. Rituals change but those changes matter. When altars were pulled out from walls and priests started to stand behind them, facing towards the people rather than away from them, it transformed the notion of God from being distant to being among us and with us. The State Opening of Parliament isn’t a grand prologue to democracy – it is democracy, vividly displayed. It’s a ritual that enshrines the principle of constitutional monarchy, where Parliament rules but the Queen is consulted and encourages and warns. We all wonder what the Queen herself thinks of the legislation she’s announcing. Christians recognise Jesus as king, but his regal authority is shaped by being a prophet who proclaims how things should be and a priest who reconciles and restores us when things are not as they should be. Power, even for God, isn’t an end in itself: it’s a way of helping creation flourish. Think again about the Queen in her ermine reading out someone else’s ideas and convictions yesterday. It’s a fascinating picture of what it means for Jesus to be a king. We assume that kings are all-powerful and the monarch’s purple robes denote dominance and supremacy. But yesterday the Queen exercised authority not by imposing her will, but by representing and articulating the voice of the people. In a few years’ time, when the hotly-contested policies have come and gone, that image of the sovereign surrounded by her ministers will remain. The people have chosen their representatives, the government has proposed a way forward for us all – and one person, in robes, steps forward to say, ‘Beyond our divisions and transcending our differences, we are one people.’ This is no idle ritual. It’s the heart of our nation. And it’s a picture of how to exercise power.