The clocks have gone back, the daylight hours are getting shorter and the memories of summer are but a memory. In fact one could nearly make ourselves believe that summer wasn’t here at all. However, November is known as the month for remembering. On Tuesday 11th November at 11am we are encouraged to pause and remember for two minutes those men and women who so bravely gave of their own lives in the fight against war and terror. As their memory lives on, we are also encouraged to pray for their loved ones, and to pray for those who are still on active duty fighting for the freedom we so often take for granted. There will also be an opportunity for us to remember at acts of worship and church services on Remembrance Sunday (9th November). As a Chaplain of the Royal British Legion, I would like to extend to you an invitation to join myself, other clergy and members of the Strabane Branch of the Royal British Legion on Remembrance Sunday at the War Memorial on Derry Road at 9:30am for an Act of Remembrance with wreath laying ceremony and then for the annual parade and service in the Church of the Good Shepherd, Sion Mills at 3pm. Also at 11:30am there will be a Service of Remembrance in Christ Church, when as parishioners we will have the opportunity to remember and give thanks to God for the democratic freedom we enjoy.
As we remember those who have died in two World Wars and other conflicts, let us not take for granted all that has been achieved for us. Many of us will wear a poppy as a symbol of remembrance and a reminder of the sacrifice which has been made. Let us also remember another sacrifice, which was made on a far of land - a sacrifice which was made for freedom, where a willing man was nailed to a cross and died because He loves us. In John 15:13 we read “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”. John is of course writing about Jesus. As we think of the poppy, let us also think of the Cross and what Jesus did for us. Each of us can experience the freedom which He offers to us, if we only would invite Him into our lives. Henry Francis Lyte’s hymn ‘Abide with me’ is often sang at Remembrance Services, and I pray that the last verse will be a prayer that each of us can meaningfully pray:
Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes;
shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;
heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
As we remember those who have died in two World Wars and other conflicts, let us not take for granted all that has been achieved for us. Many of us will wear a poppy as a symbol of remembrance and a reminder of the sacrifice which has been made. Let us also remember another sacrifice, which was made on a far of land - a sacrifice which was made for freedom, where a willing man was nailed to a cross and died because He loves us. In John 15:13 we read “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”. John is of course writing about Jesus. As we think of the poppy, let us also think of the Cross and what Jesus did for us. Each of us can experience the freedom which He offers to us, if we only would invite Him into our lives. Henry Francis Lyte’s hymn ‘Abide with me’ is often sang at Remembrance Services, and I pray that the last verse will be a prayer that each of us can meaningfully pray:
Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes;
shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies;
heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;
in life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
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