A fair morning today, no showers recently, and some bits of blue sky to set of the yellowing beech leaves.
Next Sunday is Remembrance, and the Lectionary has some relevance too. But for now just a general observation … those who have died cannot speak for themselves. Their deaths are both gut-wrenchingly grief-making and powerful in many ways. And so those who survived, but especially succeeding generations, are tempted to colonise those deaths and use that emotional weight for their own purposes. It’s happened throughout history. And I wonder if it’s sometimes happened to Jesus too. People find many layers of meaning in the cross of Christ. We sometimes draw different conclusions.
God of love and mercy,
we remember.
We acknowledge the pain,
the grief, the terror.
This is the cruel world,
and these were children of your creation,
fearful, vulnerable, yet brave;
ordinary, yet amazing.
We will remember them.