Remember, Remember

November is a month of remembrance. We start on 5^th November:

Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot...

Though it is questionable now 400 years on whether the events of November 5^th 1605 are recalled by many people in any detail. Certainly children now seem more preoccupied with Halloween at this time of the year rather than Penny for the Guy.

But of course the other remembrance in November is that of 11^th November and the Sunday preceding it, in which the servicemen and women who have died in war and conflict are remembered.

For me this year’s Remembrance service will be very poignant. In my role as volunteer police chaplain I have tried to attend many of the repatriations for the fallen being brought home from Afghanistan. Sadly, I now know the routine all too well. I hear the news of a death on the news and then know that typically, about 5 or 6 days later, I will receive an email from the police telling when the ceremony will take place. I then join the ranks of ex servicemen, fire fighters, police officers and members of the public that gather at Gable Cross Police station for the cortege to come past on the way to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

On 14^th July, 8 young men were repatriated and that event made the international news. But somehow what is most saddening is to see a single coffin returning. One ex serviceman called Jack, who I have got to know well said to me on one such occasion “It’s sad to see a poor wee laddie on his own parted from his friends”. And I know what Jack meant.

Back in August, the funeral of Britain’s last veteran from the First World War – Harry Patch – took place. Having recently read Mr Patch’s biography I was moved by his comments that he believed war was organised murder. And in referring to the First World War he said "It was not worth it, it was not worth one let alone all the millions.”

I am sure many of us feel the same about Afghanistan. It is not worth the lives of the over 200 men and women from this country (let alone the hundreds from other countries and the thousands of civilians.)

Almighty God, help us to remember and learn the lessons of the past: the cost of war, the price of peace, the scope of human depravity and the extent of human sacrifice. Remind us of all we owe, lest we forget. We ask it in the name of Christ. Amen.

David (Prayer adapted from “Prayers for all seasons” by Nick Fawcett 1998.)