{"id":2341,"date":"2023-02-02T09:33:14","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T14:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=2341"},"modified":"2023-02-02T09:33:14","modified_gmt":"2023-02-02T14:33:14","slug":"kingdoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/02\/kingdoms\/","title":{"rendered":"Kingdoms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>.
\u00a0
The Principality of Sealand claims to be the smallest independent nation in the world.
\u00a0
It isn\u2019t much to look at.\u00a0 It\u2019s made of concrete and steel and is entirely contained in the photo above.
\u00a0
Sealand occupies Roughs Tower, one of many \u201csea forts\u201d that the British constructed during World War II.\u00a0 Roughs Tower was a platform for antiaircraft guns designed to protect England from German bombers.
\u00a0
In 1967, when the military abandoned the site \u2013 it\u2019s seven miles off the British coast in the North Sea, and thus in international waters \u2013 a former British Army major and Scotsman named Paddy Roy Bates seized the property with the intention of establishing a rogue radio station there.\u00a0
\u00a0
Bates never did build his radio station.\u00a0 Instead he declared Roughs Tower to be Sealand, a sovereign micro-nation.\u00a0
\u00a0
He became Prince Roy, his wife Princess Joan, and their son His Royal Highness Prince Michael.\u00a0 In short order Bates designed a coat of arms, wrote a constitution, commissioned a national anthem, minted some coins (\u201cSealand dollars\u201d), and printed official stamps.\u00a0 To date the principality has issued more than 160,000 \u201cpassports.\u201d\u00a0
\u00a0
Sealand\u2019s official website proclaims, \u201cRise as the Noble You Were Born to Be<\/em>.\u00a0 Join our adventure and become a Lord, Lady, or Noble Knight.\u201d\u00a0 The exciting news is that your belle can become a Dame for a mere $111 \u2013 the perfect Valentine\u2019s Day gift.\u00a0
\u00a0
Even though only a few human beings have ever lived on Sealand, it claims its own hockey team, as well as fencing, ultimate Frisbee, and roller derby squads.\u00a0 Ten years ago a mountaineer unfurled the Sealand flag on the summit of Mount Everest.
\u00a0
Oh, and its official national dish is spaghetti \u2013 definitely an asset if you\u2019re contemplating citizenship.\u00a0
\u00a0
But there have also been rough times at Roughs Tower.\u00a0
\u00a0
Sealand was \u201cinvaded\u201d in 1978 by someone claiming to be its Prime Minister, a man who has since set up the Sealand Rebel Government in exile.\u00a0 In 2009, a German citizen who identifies himself as King Marduk the First claimed Sealand as part of his own nation, The Kingdom of Marduk.\u00a0 As the old saying goes, you can\u2019t make this stuff up.
\u00a0
The United Nations does not identify man-made structures as islands.\u00a0 Therefore, despite all its bluff and bluster, Sealand has never been officially recognized as a sovereign country.
\u00a0
Nonetheless, shortly before his death in 2012, Bates offered to sell Sealand.\u00a0 Think about it:\u00a0 You could have owned your own wannabe micro-nation.\u00a0 For the bargain price of just $906 million US dollars.
\u00a0
Truth be told, you don\u2019t have to be rich or eccentric to be the ruler of your own kingdom.\u00a0 That\u2019s the thrust behind Jesus\u2019 request of his Father in the Lord\u2019s Prayer: \u201cMay your<\/em> kingdom come, may your<\/em> will be done\u2026\u201d
\u00a0
In other words, Jesus teaches us to pray for the fall of our own little fiefdoms.\u00a0 \u201cLord, may your reign succeed at the expense of the Kingdom of Me.\u201d
\u00a0
What does it mean to surrender my crown?\u00a0 It means I can no longer strut around as the master and chief architect of the project known as My Own Life.
\u00a0
My reign must end.
\u00a0
So the True King can reign over me with justice, grace and peace.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here.\u00a0The Principality of Sealand claims to be the smallest independent nation in the world.\u00a0It isn\u2019t much to look at.\u00a0 It\u2019s made of concrete and steel and is entirely contained in the photo above.\u00a0Sealand occupies Roughs Tower, one of many \u201csea forts\u201d that the British constructed during World War II.\u00a0 Roughs Tower was… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2342,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[86],"class_list":["post-2341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-kingdom-of-god"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2343,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2341\/revisions\/2343"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}