REMEMBRANCE

Thank you to all the soldiers who left home and family and country to fight and die for our freedom.

 

We had a very meaningful Remembrance day service at church yesterday.   Jeremy Vint played the trumpet and The Last Trumpet call is so very moving. We remember dad's two uncles who died in the war and the sadness it cased his grandmother.  My dad was always worried about his family in England and like so many lied about his age to sign up for the 1st World War.  We  learned  to hate the Germans.

Our soldiers even today come home wounded in body and spirit unable to talk about the horror they have seen.  We believe that in some way God is in the midst of all those who are suffering.  Remembrance is good if it moves us to action, to  search for  and actually fight for peace not the insanity of war. 

Thomas Merton, a writer and a monk wrote about the capture and trial of Eichmann, who was judged sane even though he had been a mass murderer of the Jews. 
"We equate sanity with a sense of justice, with humaneness, with prudence and with the capacity to love and understand people." 

Believe it or not there have  been writers and scholars who have declared Jesus a religious fanatic, a mind demented, a megalomaniac who heard voices and had anger problems.  In literature and in film often a Catholic priest or just a religious person makes you feel ashamed of the faith upon which your life is built.  Yes, we pray and say the right creeds and doctrines but rise from our devotions sometimes feeling unchanged.

Yet I believe that deep within us change is happening. 

 

I believe that Jesus gave his life as a gift of grace to set us free.  I can only hope and pray that if we could live by his spirit of peace we would become more aware of the needs of others and also aware of the suffering of others too.

There will always be suffering and painful situations but there will also always be love and kindness and healing.

Anyway we had a quiet day watching the football game and then had a short walk over to the park.  We saw three flights of geese flying overhead making noise and flying in formation.  Amazing sight.
Missed the hockey game as it was over when we turned it on.

We usually go to a service but I think not today. 

It is important to face the inevitable losses that bring us sadness but look for hope beyond our understanding and peace in the promises of "The Beloved One".  In His Love we find rest for our souls.