November 2010 - Vol. 32. No. 11

The Rector writes:
Dear Friends

As we become older many of us are conscious that the memory isn’t quite what it used to be. We go into a room to fetch something and forget what we’ve gone there for; keys, diaries and spectacles are mislaid; we recognise a familiar face but cannot put a name to it. Even so, many older people remember things from years ago as if they only happened yesterday. For those who lived through the Second World War, the events will be forever etched upon their memories. One of my early memories is of stories my parents told of war time, but as a child I had little understanding of what war was. I still remember the shock of discovering that war brings death and destruction. I hope I never lose the capacity to be shocked and appalled when I hear of the horrors and atrocities of war. It’s a long time since the World War that my parents’ generation was involved in, but there have been many wars before and since. Uppermost in many of our minds now is the terrible waste of young lives in Afghanistan, as we continue to pray for our troops serving there, and for the ordinary people of that country caught up in the conflict.

Among those who observe the two minutes’ silence on 11th November, and those who join in Remembrance Sunday parades and services on 14th November there will be people who have lived through the horrors and deprivations of war. Some people taking part will be thinking of comrades and family members who died in wartime. There will be others, like myself, who know of these things at second hand, through the memories that others have shared through telling their stories. Younger members of the uniformed organisations who take part in parades may only just be starting to learn about what life was like in wartime, and about the courage of the men and women we shall honour in our Act of Remembrance.

This year it is Gotham’s turn to host the Parade and Service of Remembrance involving the Gotham and District Branch of the Royal British Legion. However, there will be services in our Benefice churches on Remembrance Sunday and all are welcome to attend. May all of us who take part reflect on the wicked waste of life and the terrible suffering that war brings, and commit ourselves to do all that we can to promote peace and justice. Let us pray that God will raise up more peacemakers, remembering that Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9).

With my love and prayers

Glynis Hetherington