32. Complexity in Remembrance, Podcast for November 8, 2020

On November 11th, in Canada, we celebrate Remembrance Day, a day set aside to honour those who died in the First and Second World Wars and all the wars, really, before and after. And not just to remember and consider the soldiers who died, but to reflect on those who supported them, loved them, lost them, and carried on in whatever way they were able. And in our United Church faith tradition, we bring this remembrance into our Sabbath gatherings on the Sunday before November 11th, which is our podcast today. 

This is a complex matter. How do those who follow the Prince of Peace wade into the muddy waters of state sanctioned violence, which is war? How to we honour fallen soldiers at the same time we work towards a more peaceful world? With humility and the offer of grace. And today we have a Roman soldier and his encounter with Jesus to show us what that looks like. Our podcast contains the traditional reading of Flander’s Fields, words of remembrance, and moment of silence. In taking part and listening, may you be blessed.

And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we'll look back on these tears as old tales.

— Andrew Peterson, Andrew Osenga