Reflections on Remembrance Sunday

Early this morning I watched part of a Remembrance Sunday service taking place at Camp Bastion, Helmand Province, Afghanistan. It was a moving occasion, as the men and women currently serving in the armed forces there remembered friends and colleagues who had either died or been injured in conflict.

I have been thinking back to my own childhood memories of Remembrance Sunday. I lived in the village of Keyingham, which lies on the A1033 main road from Hull to Withernsea. My family and I attended the local Methodist Chapel, but on Remembrance Sunday we joined with the Anglicans in standing around the cenotaph for the two minutes' silence. I remember that the crowd of us spilled out onto the main road, but any cars drivers who happened to come along were very respectful, and more than happy to wait until the ceremony was completed.

Over the ensuing years, I had the feeling that Remembrance Day was not taken quite as seriously, as the generation who actually fought in, or remembered, the world wars were gradually dying off. Then, of course, came conflicts in the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan. Sadly, we are now very used to regularly hearing of further casualties of war.

It is hard to imagine how the families and friends of those who have died or been seriously injured must be feeling at this time. Most members of the public hear the names of people who have died, and may be sad for their loved ones, but then they move on with our lives. For the bereaved, the pain never fully goes away. Their loss cannot be forgotten.

To give one's life for others is the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus himself said, 'greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.' In the midst of this time of great sadness we can remember that Jesus willingly gave his life for us, and for all mankind. Not only did he die for us, but he rose again, to show that death has been overcome. Through faith in him we can have the assurance of eternal life! Yes, when we lose a loved one it is a time of deep sadness. But for those whose faith is in Jesus, death is not the end, but a doorway to a new life in the very presence of God.