It's an absolute honor to be taking part in the pageant for the

“It’s an absolute honor to be taking part in the pageant for the Diamond Jubilee. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and will be a moment in history that will always be remembered. I’m really looking forward to being out on the river with friends and family. To mark this historic moment will be extremely special.” Thus spoke Steve McFadden, an actor by trade but a celebrant by heart, when the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II shone like a jewel upon the waters of the Thames. His words, though spoken with simplicity, echo with a deeper truth — the reverence of the human spirit for those rare moments when personal joy becomes woven into the tapestry of history. For what he expressed was not merely the pride of participation, but the ancient wonder of belonging to something greater than oneself.

The Diamond Jubilee, marking sixty years of steadfast rule, was no mere ceremony of power; it was the celebration of endurance, of continuity, of a nation’s heart beating in rhythm with its sovereign. In the pageant upon the river — that timeless symbol of life’s flow — McFadden saw not only boats and banners, but the mirror of centuries. He felt, as men have felt since the dawn of civilization, the quiet awe of standing within history rather than reading about it. To honor such a moment is to sense the invisible thread that binds the living to the generations gone before and those yet unborn.

The ancients, too, knew the sacredness of communal celebration. When the citizens of Athens gathered for their Panathenaic festival or the Romans for their triumphs, they did not merely watch — they partook. Each heart, no matter how humble, was lifted into the realm of the eternal by the act of witnessing greatness. The pageant on the Thames, like the processions of old, was a river not just of water but of memory — carrying with it the songs, the hopes, and the silent prayers of millions. In joining it, McFadden spoke not only for himself but for every soul that longs to be part of something enduring and noble.

There is wisdom in his phrase, “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” It reminds us that history is not always made by kings and conquerors, but also by those who simply stand in its presence with open hearts. The river flows only once for each of us in the same way. We may not all have jubilees or parades, yet we each are granted moments — small, fleeting, radiant — that define the meaning of our days. To recognize such a moment as sacred, to stand awake and grateful within it, is to live as the ancients counseled: in reverence for the present, mindful of its place in eternity.

Think, for example, of those who witnessed the first moon landing. They were not on the surface of that silver orb, yet they remember where they stood, whom they were with, what they felt. The moment became part of them, as the Diamond Jubilee became part of McFadden. History, then, is not written only in books; it is carved upon the hearts of those who bear witness with wonder. To call such an event an honor is to acknowledge that life’s greatest gifts come not from taking, but from beholding — from being present in the company of one’s people when the world turns a page.

The river itself, upon which the Jubilee’s grand flotilla moved, carries a lesson. It teaches that time and life are ever-flowing, yet capable of reflecting the divine when the light strikes just so. As McFadden looked forward to being “out on the river with friends and family,” he spoke the oldest truth — that joy is multiplied when shared. The grandeur of the event would fade, but the laughter of loved ones, the sight of flags against the gray sky, the mingling of pride and tenderness — these would remain. In that union of the personal and the historical, of family and nation, lies the beauty of remembrance.

So, children of the future, learn from these words: when a great moment passes before you, stand still and feel it. Do not hurry through your days as though they were common. Each generation receives its own festivals of meaning — some grand as a Jubilee, others quiet as a sunrise shared with those you love. Cherish them, for they are your moments in history, your living testaments to gratitude. In honoring them with the fullness of your presence, you do what every ancient sage has taught: you join the eternal flow of human memory, where every heart that remembers becomes, in its own way, immortal.