Next Wednesday is Remembrance Day and in our service this Sunday we will stop for 2 minutes to remember those who died in war. But who will we be remembering?
While wanting to remember those servicemen and women who've died in conflicts, past and present, I still feel a little uncomfortable about the occasion. And again part of the reason is related to the question, who will we be remembering?
The emphasis at Remembrance always seems to be on those soldiers, sailors and airmen who died, and particularly on our British personnel and their 'allies'. But war is messy. Civilians often get caught up in the crossfire. Who remembers them? What about those who fought against our 'boys', many of them conscripted or forced to fight, and whose death was also a tragedy for a mother or a husband or a child? Who remembers them? And what about the families of those left behind? Who remembers them?
An excellent article by Symon Hill in this week's Baptist Times points to a report by thinktank Ekklesia called Reimagining Remembrance. The report calls for a more truthful remebrance, one that recognises the messiness of war, and which remembers civilians, conscientious objectors, those who've fought against British troops, the injured and paralysed, the bereaved and left behind, and (significantly) all those who are working for peace.
You can find it on the Ekklesia website by clicking here http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/10505.
Believing that all people are made in God's image, that all are the intended recipients of his grace, that in Christ there are to be no divisions, and that the role of the Church is to facilitate the great reconciliation of humanity, when I stand in silence this Sunday I know who I will be remembering and praying for. It will be all those who died, irrespective of how or why, and all those who still suffer because of conflicts past or present, and it will be all those working and called to work for peace.
What about you? Who will you be remembering?
Friday, 6 November 2009
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2 comments:
I have always tried to remember on this day as I do my remembering around the communion table, not only do i remember what is past but I recall the future that is coming and the responsibility and opportunity that brings to my present
Of course it makes a difference if the congregation are old enough to have lived through the war (wars) and know people who died. Also for us we are particularly aware that we live in a city where many dads and sons (some mums and daughters but mainly male) are serving overseas - the son of one of our members is in Afghanistan right now.
I don't think we can look back and remember without also looking forward and praying which is why and others in the congregation wear two poppies this weekend...one red for remembrance and one white...for peace (available from the Peace Pledge Union).
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