From Revd Tom Benson

Dear friends,

This time of year can be a sad time for some people as we enter a season of cold and dark nights. It can be a time to remember and then to draw strength from those memories, to give thanks for the things that we have done and seen, for the people that we have travelled through life alongside and perhaps see no longer. We remember them in our Remembering services that are held across our churches over the last weekend in October. 

We also remember and pay our respects to those who lost their lives in the service of our country in the Remembrance services of the 8th of November. It makes it a poignant, thoughtful time of year, a time to be together and reflect. In villages such as ours, these names on the war memorials are not simply names in a history book. They belonged to real people and their absence left a mark on families and villages that lasted for generations.

Yet remembrance is not only about looking backwards. It also challenges us to consider the sort of world we are helping to create today. The words “Lest we forget” remind us not only to remember those who died, but also to remember the values for which they sacrificed so much: freedom, justice, compassion and peace.

We also remember all those who continue to serve in our Armed Forces, and those who carry the physical and emotional scars of conflict. We pray for those caught up in wars today, for families who have lost loved ones, and for all who long for a safer and more peaceful future.

It was hoped that the First World War would be ‘the war to end all wars’, but history has shown us that that was not to be and now, over a hundred years later, the world seems to be entering a new and very dangerous phase. We think especially of the people of Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, The Gulf, Ukraine and Russia at this time. I am sure that you, like me, are holding them in your thoughts and prayers.

However, by and large the world is still a beautiful place where goodness, kindness and decency still hold sway, so even though we can be presented with images of horror we can see signs of God’s goodness revealed. Look to the kindness of strangers, the beauty of creation, the wisdom that is shown by gentle people and there we find something of God revealed.

As we gather this November, may our remembrance be more than a ceremony. May it deepen our gratitude, strengthen our compassion and encourage us to play our own small part in building a world where peace may flourish.

“At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.”

God Bless, Tom