Last Sunday we observed Remembrance Sunday in church.  Two years have passed since we were previously able to gather as a civic community, with representatives from young people’s groups, military services, local religious and community organisations and Banbury Town Council.  I never cease to be moved by the sense of purpose and calling demonstrated by so many volunteers and public service personnel (both currently serving and retired) from across the community.   Their dedication to duty is abundantly demonstrated and celebrated on Remembrance Sunday. 

Primarily we are there to remember those who lost their lives in the line of duty, most obviously when serving in the armed forces whether as combatants, peace keepers or logistics support.  But there is also recognition in the Remembrance ceremony that we are gathered to celebrate the contributions of all who seek to make the world a better place to live in, and that includes fire fighters and Samaritans, paramedics and police, scout leaders and Rotarians (to name but a few of the organisations represented).   And although Remembrance Sunday is about looking back to remember those who have died, it also includes an act of commitment made by all present in the congregation that we will consider the future.  I was privileged to lead this part of the service, and I addressed three very important questions to the congregation about how we intend to live in the time which remains to us.  ‘Will you strive for all that makes for peace?  Will you seek to heal the wounds of war?  Will you work for a just future for all humanity?’

Sometimes criticism is made of Remembrance Sunday that it is too jingoistic, that it celebrates violence and fighting or promotes nationalism and military glory.  This has not been my experience of this service, which acknowledges the sadness of death and terrible loss of loved ones; which laments our human failure to live at peace with the rest of humanity; and which also expresses the longing that we will strive for a better world in the future.  We finish the service in the hope that we will, individually and collectively, live a life of justice, courage and mercy.  Here is our response to the act of remembrance: that we feel encouraged and renewed in our commitment to live a better tomorrow so that those who died in the past did not give their lives in vain.

One of the foremost hymn writers of our age, Timothy Dudley-Smith, has captured perfectly this balance of looking back and looking forward on Remembrance Sunday in his hymn ‘Eternal God, before whose face we stand’.   In the second verse, he writes:

‘We come with grief, with thankfulness and pride,

to hold in honour those who served and died;

we bring our hurt, our loneliness and loss,

to him who hung forsaken on the cross.’

And in the third verse:

‘May this remembrance move our hearts to build

 a peace enduring, and a hope fulfilled’.

 And if ever we have needed encouragement to build a better future after the ravages of the pandemic with the loss of far too many lives, the time now is ripe for such inspiration.

Sarah Bourne, Chaplain for the Arts – 17^th Nov 2021           sarahbourne@banburystmary.org.uk