Tell me what this is about then ...

Hi all,

I have the pleasure of working for the greatest boss in all creation, and so I have the blessing of a 3 month break for study and reflection and refreshment. I also get to choose what to do with it!

One of those things that has been a fixture in churches all my life has been Remembrance Sunday. Which, even in my younger days, seemed to sit uncomfortably at times with the gospel of justice, peace, mercy, forgiveness and salvation that was preached the rest of the year. In ministry this discomfort has only increased for me. I have been in churches with many veterans of the second world war, who continued to suffer the effects of their service, and wanted time to reflect on their experiences, and to remember former comrades. I have been in churches where there have been expectations of a certain style of ceremony, and in churches where some elders have refused to serve on remembrance day because of their own discomfort.

I am troubled when Remembrance in church becomes a exercise in patriotism (Colossians 3:11), or a celebration of victory bought with the blood of men, women and children. I am troubled when we limit our remembrance to only those who fought on 'our' side. I am troubled when we limit our remembrance to only certain conflicts. I am troubled when people are not allowed to express discomfort with remembrance and how it is done, when to wear a poppy is expected in the workplace and if absent or joined with another symbol  then is a disciplinary offence. I am troubled when 'official' memorial seeks to silence uncomfortable bits of history.

Further challenges are faced by the growing distance between the events we remember and we who remember. My great grandparents would have been of an age to fight in world war 1. I never knew them. None of my grandparents fought on the front lines. My Dad was 3 when it started, my mum born halfway through. My children are even further from the events, and as I consider my grandchildren I wonder what they will be trying to remember.

There is also the challenge to the place of the church in remembrance. It isn't (in my view) a Christian ceremony, but a civil one. I have many friends who are avowed atheists, who feel much closer links with friends and family in the armed forces they want to remember. Why is their remembrance surrounded with faith statements they do not agree with?

Which opens a new door - what are we remembering? I have through my life, starting with Biggles when I was but a child, read war fiction, and history. I enjoy learning the history, and I enjoy the debates with friend over what bits of the 'history' we read are fiction. Many of my friends are similarly minded - readers of history, and wargamers who get excited by tanks and tactics. I know enough to know I know very little. I am always surprised by the level of ignorance about things we are supposed to remember each year.

So I have questions, and opportunity to reflect. I have just come back from 19 days of travel through the WW1 western front from Ieper to the Somme. I am looking forward to the opportunity to travel through Normandy in a couple of months time.

I invite you all to share in my travels, my thoughts and my questions.