We live in a community with a strong military presence. The base is only a few kilometers away, and many families choose to live in Bon Accord or Gibbons rather than on the base itself. So when Remembrance Day fell on a Sunday last year, and we were asked to participate in the service, our small church decided that we would serve the town by attending the town ceremony and serving lunch. I know there are complex and thorny theological issues of pacifism and Christian participation in war that need to be navigated each year at this time. But for us, it was simply a matter of understanding where God has placed us, and moving toward our community rather than away from it. My husband prayed during the ceremony, I sang O Canada (as their original singer backed out at the last moment), my husband read the Canadian poem “In Flander’s Fields” in his Irish accent, and our whole church served lunch. This is the prayer my husband wrote:

Merciful and loving God,

We come before you in praise and remembrance.

Be with us today,

In our heads and in our understanding,

In our mouths and in our speaking,

In our hearts and in our acting,

As we remember.

 

We remember the horrors of war, past and present:

The death and destruction,

The fear and terror.

 We remember that many throughout your world still live where

War and terror,

Violence and injustice,

Are part of daily life.

 We remember women and men who have

Struggled for peace,

Stood against evil,

And sought justice

With their bodies, their minds, their futures, and their lives.

We offer prayers of thankfulness and care

For those who died that we might live,

For those who suffered and still suffer in the defence of the dignity of all people.

And we ask that you would be with all those who have lost a loved one or wait for a loved one to return.

 

We are saddened, with you,

By the evil which damages and destroys life,

By the people who have seen the darkness of war.

We ask that your presence would be with those who struggle for justice and peace in our world.

And we ask that you would comfort and strengthen those who suffer from oppression, isolation, and sorrow.

 

For those qualities in us that make war possible,

For times when we have not sought justice or peace,

For times when we have deadened our spirits to the suffering of others,

Forgive us, we pray,

 

We look forward to the day

When you will cause all wars to cease,

When you will change our weapons into tools of human flourishing,

When our loved ones will return home,

When you will heal your world.

 

Amen.