A Month of Remembrance
Dear Friends,
November is a month of remembrance. We take time to remember those who have gone before us on All Souls Day, All Saints Day, and of course Remembrance Day.
Have you ever considered what the opposite of the verb ‘to remember’ might be? Is it ‘to forget’? Perhaps. But it is also ‘to dis-member’. Dismembering is to take apart, whereas remembering (and recollecting) is to bring back together. In the Hebrew language of the Bible, the verb for ‘to remember’ means so much as ‘to bring to live again’ – to gather the fragments and to give something a present reality.
When on Remembrance Day we centre our attention on those who gave their lives for king and country, we bring them from the past into the present. For a moment, it is as if they are back. A whole nation stands in silence before them. We thank God. And we pray for peace in our times.
When Jesus asked his followers to ‘remember me’ when sharing bread and wine, he wasn’t asking for a moment of nostalgic reminiscing. No, by remembering, we ‘bring to live again’. Through our remembering, and through the living presence of his Holy Spirit, Jesus continues to be the centre of our present reality. He shapes us and our lives. He speaks of love and peace, even in the darkest of times.
The prayer on the next page has become well-known as the ‘World Peace Prayer’. The prayer was first used in church by Mother Teresa at St. James’ Piccadilly London in July 1981. She didn’t write it though. The prayer finds its origins in the mantras of Hinduism and was adapted by the Jain monk Satish Kumar and the Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh. Isn’t it fascinating that Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Judeo-Christian traditions come together in one cry for peace? Perhaps you could pray this prayer too?
Love and prayers,
