We met at the bandstand on a beautiful sunny, frosty autumn morning. The colours of the trees were resplendent in the sunshine.

Fran with her new pup

Relaxed old hand

We added to our numbers with an extra dog!

As it was the 11th November we had decided to lead quite a traditional Remembrance Day service.

This I call to mind,
and therefore I have hope:
the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning.
Lamentations 3.21-23

Those who wait for the Lord shall renew
their strength,
they shall mount up with wings like eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not grow faint. 
Isaiah 40.31

What does the Lord require of you
but to act justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6.8

We opened with part of a poem written by Alan Seeger, a soldier in the First World War who died at the Somme in 1916.

I have a rendezvous with Death

On some scarred slope or battered hill,

Remembering

When you go home
tell them of us and say,
for your tomorrow
we gave our today.

They shall not grow old,
as we that are left grow old;
age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun
and in the morning,
we will remember them.

Two minutes silence …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

The wisdom from God is first pure, then
peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of
mercy and good fruits, without a trace of
partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of
righteousness is sown in peace for those
who make peace.
James 3:17-18

Some Help Here, Please!

By Warrant Officer Theodore Knell

Parachute Regiment

Hello God it’s me again.

I know I only call when I’m really in the shit

but at least you know you’re needed

and I’m not faking it.

I only call when it’s something really big,

well God today is one of those days.

I know you’re busy elsewhere

with other

more deserving lives to save

but you must have heard that bloody great bang

and seen the white plumes of our phosphorus  grenades

To say we’re outnumbered would be a bit  of a joke

the fire fight’s in full swing now

the air full of buzzing bullets

and thick with acrid smoke

I have two dead

and of the four that are left

two of us are carrying fresh wounds

so as you can see

we’re in well over our heads

I’ve spoken to base-

they’re on their way

but it could be some time

so it would be really good to get a  second opinion

as to whether I’ll live to fight another day

anyway God,

needs must

things to do and lives to take

thanks very much for listening

but I suspect the next time we talk

it could well be

face to face.

Prayers

Lord we bring before you for all who have
died in the violence of war, each one
remembered by and known to God.

We pray for all
who in bereavement, disability and pain
continue to suffer the consequences of
war and violence.

We remember with thanksgiving and sorrow
those whose lives,
in world wars and conflicts past and present,
have been taken away.

For the people who love them in death as in life.
For all members of the armed forces who
are in danger this day, remembering
family, friends and all who pray for their
safe return.

We pray for the wounded and the disturbed, the grieving and the homeless,
and for all who suffer due to war and conflict.

For women, and children and men
whose lives are disfigured by war and violence.
For peace-makers and peace-keepers, who
seek to keep this world secure and safe.

For those known to us who need Jesus now………..

God of truth and justice
hear our prayers for all who strive for peace,
and all who yearn for justice.
Help us, who today remember the cost of war,
to work for a better tomorrow; and as we honour the past, may we put our faith in your future.

Amen.

Always Loved – Never Forgotten

We had our own act of remembrance – thinking of those friends and loved ones we have lost. During another silence we wrote the names of those we wish to remember on tissue paper petals and then made poppies, which we will take away with us.

Bread and Wine of Remembrance

When the time was right, God sent Jesus to be among us.
Born into this life, seeing your grace revealed in all things,
he laughed with those who laughed, and mourned with those who mourned.
Through your love, he healed the sick, he welcomed the outcast, he challenged those in power,
and the structures that kept them there. And he called us back to your love.
In the power of the Holy Spirit,
the Christ laughs and cries,
heals and welcomes,
challenges and loves,
again and again and again.
We have been told that, on the night before he was taken to be
tortured to death on a cross, Jesus sat with his disciples,
and ate with them, in a meal of remembrance.
Jesus took a loaf of bread,
asked your blessing upon it, broke it,
and gave it to his disciples saying:
Take this – all of you – and eat it.
This is me. My Body. Given for you.
Each time you eat it, remember me.
Close to the meal’s end,
he took a cup filled with wine,
asked your blessing upon it,
and gave it to his disciples saying:
Take this – all of you – and drink it.
This is me. This is my promise in my life’s blood –
poured out for you and for the world.
Each time you drink it, remember me.
So we, his disciples,
eat bread and drink wine – and remember.

(from Richard Bott – Communion Liturgy for Advent.)