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Good morning. There is a heartbreaking image in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress of the hero Christian running towards the narrow gate with his fingers in his ears so as not to hear the cries of his wife and children. Convicted of sin by the Bible and weighed down with a crippling burden of guilt he is fleeing his home to find salvation. I don’t pretend to know Prince Harry’s mind but there’s something about this image which, for me, resonates with the pain he has expressed as he reflects on his family and his destiny. I’ve also been reminded of a six hundred page tome by the Canadian philosopher Charles Taylor called Sources of the Self. Taking examples from over five millennia he shows how different cultures have different understandings of what it means to become a person. In traditional societies, he says, the individual’s sense of self is made up by connections, mostly from within the family. Born into such a world a young person tends quite freely to adopt the aspirations that the family has for them. If they travel far from home, they often experience real loneliness and need to stay in frequent touch to feel themselves. But much Western culture is influenced by Puritanism especially in America. Here the focus is on the individual who discovers who they are by fleeing earthly ties and carving out a new, unique identity. While a traditional family looks for survival in belonging, in continuity, the Western family often expects its offspring to make their own way. In our Atlantic facing island we British seem caught between the two. It’s worth remembering that many Puritans were ejected from the English church in the 17th century. Some like John Bunyan being persecuted, others ending up in the new world free to live out their ideals and in time to export them back to us. As the rift between Prince William and Prince Harry plays out in the media, I’ve been wondering to what extent this tragedy reflects the conflict between these contrasting ideas of what makes a person themselves. There is a slow turn in British culture towards an individualistic model of selfhood. But many people still expect the Royal Family to be different, to carry the burden of duty and sacrifice on behalf of the rest of us. Those of us who are iffy about duty and sacrifice ourselves may also not be quite ready for the blatant individualism which appears to be the alternative. Those of us who pray should pray for William and Harry. Both of them are seeking integrity and both of them are suffering. And I suspect that the conflict between them also reflects a conflict within our own souls.