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St Andrew's Church, Taunton

Colour Supplement

Articles by Christians around the world

Sunday 28 October 2007

Remembrance Sunday: an invitation to remember, reflect and respond

by Katharine Smith, Reader at St. Andrew's Church

Four or five years ago I wanted to find out what Remembrance Sunday means today, at the beginning of the 21^st Century, to generations who have no personal memories of the world at war. 

I asked among my colleagues to find out what they thought.  Three comments in particular stuck in my mind:

“I don’t think you need a special day – you can remember people who’ve died any day”.

Of course when someone you love dies you think about them often.  But this is a special kind of remembering. There’s something very powerful and special about being part of a much wider community remembering together.

For many of us the wars we remember are the Falklands, Bosnia, Afghanistan, the conflict in Northern Ireland and now, of course, there is fighting continuing in Afghanistan and Iraq.

We remember too those who have been bereaved by war and the danger we face today.

We remember as individuals and we remember, together, as a nation – and we will continue to remember.

The second comment from a colleague was:

“A time will come when there’s no-one alive who remembers the two world wars and Remembrance Sunday won’t mean anything”.

Will we ever be able to say that Remembrance Sunday doesn’t mean anything?  I hope not.  I believe it does mean a great deal today and for the shaping of our future.

We reflect on the fact that in spite of our experiences the world is still speaking the language of violence, vengeance and anger which lead to war. 

We still haven’t worked out how to do things differently so that planes full of passengers aren’t

flown into tall buildings and innocent people aren’t bombed in the name of justice and honour. 

We still haven’t found a better way of dealing with our differences even though we’ve been shown that there is a better way. 

We’ve been shown by a man who was beaten and had his hands nailed to wood when all he’d done to others was to love them, heal them and forgive them.

We’ve been shown a better way by Jesus.  Why do we not take it?

Let’s reflect on our share of the sins and shortcomings of our world.  Because if we can’t face up to the things in our own lives that bear the seeds of war then we won’t be able to change and grow.  And if we can’t change and grow as individuals then we can’t pass judgement when others advocate violence and wage war.

And we certainly can’t bring about peace in the world if we’re at war in our own families, churches and communities.

I hope that Remembrance Sunday will continue to be observed because so long as there are wars in the world we need its reminder of the causes and the cost of those wars.

The third remark I heard from a colleague was:

“What’s the point of praying and working for peace?  Human beings will always fight and there never will be peace”.

The great promise and hope of our Christian faith is that the innocent man whose hands were nailed on wood rose from the dead.  The new resurrection life of Jesus assures us that there is another way, there is a kingdom of heaven and it is worth praying.

I believe there is every point in praying and hoping and being committed to peace. We needn’t let fear and despair defeat us by deceiving us into believing that war is inevitable.   It’s not.  History doesn’t have to be re-lived.

At the going down of the sun

and in the morning

we will remember them.

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