The reality of Remembrance

It seems to me that Remembrance, as found attached to a poppy, is one of the most misunderstood and misappropriated areas in which I find myself working.

Misunderstood because some think Armistice and Remembrance Sunday are all about glorifying war and engaging in jingoistic sabre rattling as we revel in having triumphed over our enemies.

Misappropriated because every year the same old, same old, is dragged out and the white poppies are, less than proudly displayed, and the pascifistic mantras are made apparent in much that same way as crosses are used against vampires in the old Hammer horror films.

Yesterday I had the privilege of teaching children about Remembrance and one of the schools had made a wall of poppies that flowed along the wall of their hall and tumbled down to the floor, a la that which adorned the Tower of London, many bearing the name of a family member.There were, side by side, poppies looking back to the 1914-18 conflict and those looking to serving and recently served family members - and in doing this the children of Flaxhill School had made Remembrance theirs.

Without someone, something or somewhere to be remembered how do we spend those two minutes of silence?

Yesterday we spoke of books the children had read: Anne Frank, the Boy in Striped-Pajamas, Private Peaceful, and others, all came to the fore. Characters and accounts that put flesh on historical accounts and give the warmth of life to the cold hard statues that adorn war memorials. The small stories that capture the imagination and bring the perspective that sadnesses such as war demand. His too became something to focus upon in that endless two minutes of silence.

Yesterday we spoke of how war is never glorious and of how the word 'glory' relates to a place, as in 'gone to glory' , and means dead; and in this spoke of the lives lost by combatants and civilians alike. We reflected on the way that war changes society at large and individuals in particular, changing the way we live and think; women working in factories, people of different colours becoming officers, pubs having closing hours, men returning with limbs, lives and minds broken and disfigured; those who forlornly waited for a loved one's return.

We spoke of those left behind - and as we did, great grandads and uncles lost in WWI were reanimated; a grandad with a leg missing from a recent conflict walked in and took a bow, a young, fresh-faced twenty something passed by singing 'Tipperary', a fearful child from a refugee camp peeked around the corner of the assembly hall door to remind us that little has changed in conflict's ability to scar and scare.

This is what Remembrance is all about - making the promise that 'Never Again!' would be more than a trite phrase uttered at times like this but would, in the many lives lost so wastefully, be made real in the shadow of the act of Remembrance we have made.

In another school we talked of war and Remembrance in a different way, bringing the parallels of conflict in war with those playground spats that those in an infant school so often engage in as they begin to feel their way in a world outside of the home. We spoke of making peace and making friends, dialogue rather than decking our assumed opponent and expanded this into the world of silly and selfish grown-ups.

Making friends rather than creating enemies was the key - and as the locks turned in the minds of those five and six year olds the hope that seeds sown for seeking peace rather than conflict became a reality. But the ground needs to be filled and watered - and this is what Remembrance, if handled well, does!

And grandads and uncles and other relatives who had served all came forward and took a bow and stood before these tiny little pieces of humanity as they stood amazingly still and quiet for those interminably long sixty seconds (for two minutes would surely be an imposition).

This is Remembrance - an act that in itself works to end wars and yet, whilst the wicked still exist, acknowledges the fact that there is sometimes the need to have those who are willing to stand for others and March away and remembers those that have done so never to return.

We pray for the day when wars shall cease and all those departed this life shall see the resurrection and Jesus, the Christ's, return and until then 'We will remember them' and continue to work for peace.

Blue Sky Thought - War

I have a sinking feeling that this might just be a true and valid bit of thinking:

Wars and rumours of wars . . .

 . .  do not be alarmed!

Well that's what it says in my Bible (Matthew twenty-four, verse six: 'You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.') and I have to assume that it is a worthwhile thing to keep in mind as this morning I am finding so many prophets of doom predicting a 'firm and robust' American response to Russian boots on the soil of Ukraine. The reservists in that nation are being mobilised and this act of unwarranted aggression by Putin, who has gone from Sochi good guy to clown overnight (always was I fear), needs to be (and will be) dealt with politically.

To my colleagues who are writing that this is 'something spiritual' all I can say is 'Duh, really?'

There are always differences and conflicts and the way forward is by politics to do what politics does best rather than look to soldiers settling the dispute in the way that they do (which is politics backed by physical engagement as a last resort). As we move towards the end of our presence in Afghanistan the last thing we need is a new engagement!



Please pray

Please read more than one account of the situation and be informed when praying and intelligent when talking to God and those around you.

The only thing holy in war is the Bible that is used to pray over the dead - speak, pray, preach and be prepared (as the very last resort) to fight for peace.

Child Soldiers and the British Army

I have to say that I am rather sad to hear today that 'The Church' is violently opposed to the British Army recruiting 16yr olds into it on the grounds that we oppose 'Child Soldiers'.

The reality is that an organisation 'Child Soldiers International' (CSI) has sent a letter to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) protesting about sixteen year olds joining the Army. There are many reports and interviews flying around and people wittering on about the Army 'no longer routinely deploying children into conflict,' and some are even claiming that we are, 'No better than those in Central Africa,' when it comes to child soldiers.

But I have to say the signatories of the CSI document don't speak for me and here's why:

1. I have seen more lives changed for the better than the worse by recruiting younger men.

I've seen kids escape lifestyles and environments that would have potentially seen them criminalised, impirsoned, abused and even dead. Their time in the army changed who they were and made them different men, and better citizens.

2. The youngest death in conflict I know of was that of a soldier depyoed days after his 18th birthday and the reality is that any death, conflict or otherwise, is a tragedy and the clichéd 'doing what they loved' doesn't make it any difference. Raising the entry age to 20 or 21 as some suggest is an interesting suggestion - does this mean that there is a lesser wrong or sadness in a KIA situation fir those who are older? Of course not - all emotive tosh I'm afraid for ALL deaths in conflict are awful and tragic.

(And there are so many who already misunderstand Remembrance and foolishly talk about glorifying war and the like - this is part of the same ignorance and spin).

3. I would rather see the less than a thousand youngster who join up each year being taught a trade and receiving education in a military setting than sitting around as NEETs and getting into trouble with the law and the community in which they live. Raise the age to 20/21 and we'd be able to restrict our I take because of their criminal records perhaps?

4. The ability to join the army rather than be conscripted or coerced is something that seems to be being overlooked (or perhaps ignored) here. Those who join tend to do so because they want to join  -  I've met some where the family 'encouraged' them and whilst some left after a brief stay - as many found they liked their new family and stayed to see out a significant career.

So here we are - using the te minute rule - my internal dialogue and my external views if asked today.

I would rather see youngsters come, find the Values and Standards of the British Army (which are life changing) and get some education and opportunities to get fit and test themselves (in our family that's what Air Cadets and the Duke of Edinburgh's Award provide) in a variety of settings.

And if you really care about Child Soldiers - February 12 is 'Red Hand Day'

Be vocal then.

Pax

A bridge too far

The words of Lieutenant General Frederick Browning to Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery before operation Market Garden, the Allied attack on Arnhem, proved to be most accurate. The operation (Sunday 17th September 1944 to Tuesday 26th September) which began with paratroopers landing near to Wolfheze on a Sunday afternoon only to see them ferried across the Neder Rijn by Canadian Engineers  in tatters ten days later reflected the difficulty of the operation.

Browning's words, 'I think we may be going a bridge too far,' ring true indeed. The weather which delayed the Poles, the inability of the armoured forces to arrive in two; the charge to the ground force to hold the ground for two days and their response - a promise that they'd hold it for four - was more than honoured. The splitting of the drops into a 'one per day' affair - defeating the efficacy of a parachuted force in delivering a 'coup de main' (a swift slap in the face') and the presence of battle hardened troops and a Panzer divisions all conspired ... and yet this is a place where courage, commitment and folly combine to make one proud of the conduct, courage and commitment of those who march away to war.

The past week I have been privileged to learn of the Arnhem story and to understand just a little more about war and those who cause them to be and those who cause them to end.

War is a place we are driven to by politicians, fuelled by folly and engaged with in courage.

We will remember them

A Good Read: Stretcher Bearer!

Another good read to hit the shelves is this: 

Charles Horton (editor Dale Le Vack)
ISBN 978-0-7459-5566-7 |

One of the closest associations Chaplains have in conflict is that of working alongside the members of field hospitals as they care for the wounded and work to save lives. But all to often the unsung heroes of the Army Medical Services are missed out!

Whilst people will drone on endlessly about Special Forces or Para's and other fighting elements who in combat settings past, present and future fight for their lives: Here we have an account of people who fight for the lives of others!

In the first world war, many of those who were pacifists or felt that their religious beliefs meant that they could not take up arms volunteered to serve with the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC). One of these, Charles Horton, a survivor of the turmoil and carnage of three of the 'worst places outside of hell': Passchendaele, Ypres and the Somme, tells of the acts of heroism that saw men recovered from certain death in the most telling of circumstances.

The words on the cover put it like this:

'a wonderful authentic account of one man’s struggle to survive – and to keep others alive'

As one who is Chaplain to a Field Hospital I have to say that this book has left me even more in awe of those who I seek to serve and serve alongside.

Arrogance or informed: New Atheists Vs Christians

One of the biggest issues I find when engaging with atheists is that of the fact that one side is often willing to dialogue and the other is resolutely fixed and rigidly unwilling to move from their tenets, dogma, doctrine and beliefs (regardless of how irrational they are).

Of course what makes it even stranger is that the latter group are the 'Atheists' who cling to their beliefs (or should that be lack of beliefs?) and quote their prophets (Dawkins, Dennett, Hitchens and others) and argue in a most illogical and emotive manner. In fact, truth be told, there are times when I struggle to see who the 'irrational people of faith' are.

That said, there are a number of quite flawed and fallible Christian sources; those who take extrapolation of things scientific and portray them as if they were fact. Those who argue for a 'young earth' and rail against evolution and seek to find the God of the gaps solutions that bring about an 'Intelligent Designer' for use by an ignorant (scientifically and theologically speaking) people.

I am about to embark upon a journey of exploration the goal of which is to dialogue and to enable others to dialogue with those who would contend that there is no God (and I'm happy for them to prove this - for the assumption for so many years having been that there is, the task is surely theirs to deny any such belief. I am content to remain with the status quo that there is) and to defend my own position (in a balanced manner - start shouting and all you will hear is your voice!).

I look forward to rejoinders (and will issue in return, of course, my own surrejoinders), correction and the impartation of facts (and opinions - for these too are helpful, perhaps even when not valid). I relish the challenge of being made to think and to look at how I might be able to gibe and answer for the hope that I have in Jesus, the Christ, to all (and any) that might ask; and I do so realising my limitations and trembling in trepidation at the paucity of my wit.

There are those who tell me that religious belief lies at the root of all the atrocities; that belief (they call it 'religion') is to be found at the root of all wars and conflicts. Of course the deaths, oppression and conflict founded in, and enacted by, non-faith groups (remember Russia, Marxism and so many other non-faith group like Nazism for instance) are glossed over.

Christianity is seen as an agent of conquest during the time of Empire and obviously wrong acts and response throughout the middle ages taken as a constant to be kept and used as a talisman to provide some form of absolute proof. The Acts of the Jewish nation throughout the Ancient Near East (and especially the actions of their God, the God also of the Christians) show how wicked God is.

The comparison of 'like for something different' whilst claiming congruence and equality uses both flawed science and logic and the lack of integrity (often unintentional) on both sides makes this a most difficult path to tread - but tread it I will.

Pray for me - educate me (facts is possible) - tolerate me

ps. I'm happy to defend my position but not in isolation - for many merely pepper me with cries of 'defend, defend . . . ' and I'd like to have those 'prove by logic, reason and the like . .'