MINISTERS MUSINGS

 

NOVEMBER 2009 MUSING

PEACE not WAR

During November Autumn merges into Winter. It is a month of falling leaves and poppy petals as we remember those fallen in armed conflict and, at the feasts of All Saints and All Souls, the faithful departed who have gone before. Many have been moved at the loss of Harry Patch, the last survivor of the trenches of the first world war. This quiet, unassuming man, a former plumber from Bath, reminded us at the ripe old age of 111years that war is not a glorious thing. When interviewed on TV and asked whether he thought war was worth the sacrifice of so many, he wagged a bony finger and replied that it was not worth the loss of even one life. That is why it is important to remember all those who have made the supreme sacrifice. They fought for peace, and it is our responsibility to find peaceful solutions to the world’s problems.

In his book ‘The Last Fighting Tommy’, Harry poignantly describes the death of a fellow soldier at Passchendaele in 1917. The young man was mortally wounded and in severe pain begging to be put out of his misery. Before his wish to be shot could be complied with he died, calling for his mother. Harry records that it was not a cry of despair but of surprise and joy. He was sure the young soldier had seen his mother in the next world welcoming him there. ’From that day I’ve always remembered that cry and that death is not the end’.

What a wonderful testimony to the Christian belief that beyond death there is an eternity won for us by the Supreme Sacrifice of all time, the Lord Jesus Christ. So as we remember let us also look forward to that glorious day when we will be reunited with all the faithful departed and experience not war, but the peace which surpasses all human understanding.