Faith Matters: Remembrance Day

Tom Robson, vicar of St. John's Southbourne, offers a reflection as Remembrance Day approaches.

Every November, communities gather around our war memorials to honour those who sacrificed their lives so that we might live in freedom and peace. ‘Lest we forget’ is not a slogan, it is a promise to the memory of those who gave their lives. Yet, despite more than a century of astonishing human invention, the tragic cycle of conflict continues to scar our world.

I enjoyed studying history at University, and I seem to remember that at the turn into the 20th Century there was quite some optimism amongst many people. Technological breakthroughs such as electricity, the car and eventually manned flight promised to usher in a golden age of human prosperity. Tragically, those very achievements were just as quickly repurposed into instruments of war and destruction. History demonstrates that while technology progresses rapidly, the human willingness to use those things for good does not. Wars continue to rage across the globe, driven by greed, power, politics, and in the name of religion.

It’s tempting to assume that human history is always heading in a positive direction, but advances in technology, philosophy, or politics cannot heal the issues we can carry in our hearts. A real peace requires a far deeper change on the inside. In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus presented a radical, alternative vision, an ‘upside-down’ way of life that inverted his hearer’s expectations:

"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."

Where our world often celebrates assertiveness, self-interest, and retaliation, his kingdom values humility, mercy, and active reconciliation. Lasting peace cannot be created from the outside through political treaties or military strength alone; it begins from the inside, in our hearts and that is what he came to bring.

As we pause to remember all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and those who continue to serve, let us commit to what we can do for peace, starting in our own lives, neighbourhood's, and communities.