Words of Light and Hope from Helena Crockford LLM.

Words of Light and Hope – Remembrance
Sunday 12 th November 2023
Helena Crockford LLM

Remembrance Sunday gives us an opportunity to remember
those who have given their lives in war and conflict. This
continues to be heart-breakingly poignant as conflicts rage in
the Holy Land, Ukraine, and many other places. Prayer may
feel our only possible response at times.

A prayer of commemoration for the fallen
Father of all, remember your holy promise,
and look with love on all your people, living and departed.
On this day we especially ask that you would hold forever
all who have suffered during war,
those who returned scarred by warfare,
those who waited anxiously at home,
and those who returned wounded, and disillusioned;
those who mourned, and those communities
that were diminished and suffered loss.
Remember too those who acted with kindly compassion,
those who bravely risked their own lives for their comrades,
and those who in the aftermath of war,
worked tirelessly for a more peaceful world.
And as you remember them, remember us, O Lord;
grant us peace in our time and a longing for the day
when people of every language, race, and nation
will be brought into the unity of Christ’s kingdom.
This we ask in the name of the same Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

A poem for Remembrance Sunday
What do we remember today?
The child with the gun
The shell of the house                                                                                                                                                                                     The crumble of dreams
The breaking of bodies and peace?
The ringing of ears
The screaming of shot
The shrapnel of brick
The breaking of cover and trust?
The bearing of arms
The bearing of grief
The bearing of news
The breaking of treaties and pacts?
The braving of stares
The shaking of heads
The silence of days
The breaking of promise and hearts?
The living for peace
The longing to change
The disarming of hate
The breaking of patterns of war?
The piercing of death
The weeping of friends
The anguish of grief
The rising and breaking of bread?
Revd Barbara Glasson