"When God couldn't save the King, the Queen turned to someone who could." What??? Stay tuned.
Remember The King's Speech story? With England on the brink of war and in desperate need of a leader, King George VI's wife, Elizabeth, the future Queen Mother, arranges for her husband to see an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue. After a rough start, the two delve into an unorthodox course of treatment and eventually form an unbreakable bond. With the support of Logue, his family, his government and Winston Churchill, the King has to face himself, his insecurities, his lack of confidence, his painful speech impediments, and claim his true voice in order to deliver a radio-address that will need to inspire the people of his empire and unite them in battle.
This is the true story of one man’s quest to find his voice and those closest to him who help him find it.
So when the King finally stands in front of the microphone to broadcast the most important speech he’s ever delivered and the nation has ever heard, his therapist and friend Lionel says, “Forget everything else … and just say it … to me.”
One of the powerful themes in this story is that what ultimately empowers the King to get to that place of “just saying it” are the last two words in that statement, “to me.” Lionel Logue has become a safe place for the King to courageously explore himself and get to know his true self. Lionel has helped facilitate a profoundly supportive relationship in which Bertie is encouraged to start truly believing in himself. This friendship becomes transformational. Lionel’s confidence in his own voice and his ability to help the King is extremely empowering to Bertie. The King is able to not only discover what to say but also that he is capable of saying it and expressing it authentically because he says it to his safe and supportive friend, Lionel Logue.
And what's more, he has a loving and supportive spouse who believes in him and goes to great lengths to help him unlock his potential and find his Voice. This is one of the beautiful descriptions of what a genuine, Spirit-filled love relationship is--two people working with all their strength and loving support to help unlock and release the true Voice within the other. Imagine how transformational our close relationships would be if each person unselfishly committed everything to helping the other find and speak their true voice.
Do you notice the tag line at the top of the movie poster at the right for The King's Speech? "When God couldn't save the King, the Queen turned to someone who could." This isn't meant to be an indictment on God. But it is a profound reflection on how God most often chooses to operate in our lives--through other people who believe in us and who will go to any lengths to support us and empower us to be our best God-designed self.
I am so fortunate to have a wife like this. She absolutely believes in me more than any other person on the planet. She not only supports me in my sense of destiny and calling, but she actively empowers me and acts to help me be my very best. She works along side me to help me overcome any obstacles keeping me from fulfilling and speaking my truth. And I want to be as committed to doing this for her as she does for me. Mutual intimate allies, on the same team, working to unlock and release each other's true voice.
We all need safe places in which to discover and explore ourselves, to find out who we really are, and how to express that authentically. We need our closest allies to not be threatened by our true voice. We need those closest to us to believe in our unique voice enough to help facilitate and support our expression. And we have to be so committed to each other that when the going gets tough, when complications arise from what sometimes appear to be conflicting voices in each other, we stay with it and find creative ways to empower each other through it all so that there's a win-win result.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: What are your safe places – those supportive relationships – in your life that help you live out your Voice and speak your truth? What might you do to empower those people in your life – to give them permission to empower you? Who are the people in your life that you are helping to find their Voice? How are you doing with that? Are you truly supportive, empowering, safe?
I'd love to hear what you think about the importance of this theme in your life.
