Remembrance
Remembrance Sunday, along with Good Friday, are two of the most poignant services of the church year. Whether you are young or old, there is something quite moving about a service that remembers those who have died in wars and conflicts around the world. When I was a boy, I remember hearing the names of the fallen from our local area read out in church. Over the years the names would become familiar as each year we stood in silence and remembered those young men. Young, because some of those who died were barely men, lost before they had even reached their prime. I remember several years ago watching the news as some people were calling for an end to the annual act of remembrance. They argued that now, a hundred years past the end of the First World War, it was time to stop. Those who were arguing failed to see the significance of this period of remembrance each year. A couple of days each year, where we can worship and remember together on Remembrance Sunday, and stand still and reflect on Remembrance Day itself.
As Christians, I believe it is important to keep remembering those who were prepared to sacrifice their lives for the freedoms we have today. I believe it is important to keep remembering the horrors of wars that happened in the past, but also to remember those wars that are still going on today. Remembering gives us a chance to reflect and, hopefully, pray for God’s protection and help. I am reminded of the song ‘Make me a channel of your peace,’ which comes from the prayer of St Francis. Let these words give you a pause for thought this Remembrance week.
Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi (Prayer for Peace)
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
