Another country that has seen vast changes since WW1 is South Africa. Their Delville Wood memorial is beautiful, with some amazing reliefs, and etched glass. It also charts and reflects the changing state of the nation - with recent additions to remember the non white parts of the nation that worked and fought and died in France. It is a poignant place, testament to a turbulent century, and a century that has seen greater freedom for many, and the rise of popular movements that have seen nations change. It pleases me that the church has been a pioneer and supporter of many of those movements that have seen positive change in many places. However, in a world where support for a cause is to 'like' a statement on facebook, or to change a profile pic for a few days, where will the stickability come from that forces change in big ways?

As we commemorate the centenary of WW1 how can we encure that the horror and waste of humn life is remembered for more than just a few moments, or days? How can we keep the history fresh? We cannot leave it to the mass story tellers (Hollywood WW1 with the disney princess love interest is not going to work), but the generation who could talk from first had is gone. How do we keep their voices alive? How do we create a mass movement that stands against the waste of such war in the face of growing nationalism across Europe now? Just last week, on a radio 5 phone in, some <insert expletive> person said how Brexit wasn't enough - he thought war with Europe was the only answer!