Remembrance Day

I have always found Remembrance Sunday a poignant marker in the year. It follows a few days after All Souls day when we pause to remember those we know who are no longer with us. On Remembrance Sunday we shift our focus and give thanks for those known and unknown who have given their lives in the service of others.

It was a particular honour to represent the Methodist Church at the national act of remembrance on Sunday 10 November at the Cenotaph in London. I stood as a lay person with the other faith leaders as we held two minutes silence, wreaths were laid and we paused to pray.

As we paused I thought of all the unnamed and named ordinary folk who have have served and continue to serve the country in so many ways.

I thought of my grandfather, a young lad who cared for the horses used by the royal artillery at the front in the First World War, family members who served in the RAF and Home Guard during the Second World War and those who have served in more recent years, and those who continue to serve in different ways now.

There are those whose names may never be known to us, who over the generations have served in a variety of ways, and who did what they could when asked.

A few days before this event I saw the grave of the unknown Soldier in Westminster Abbey. This grave in the centre of the nave of the abbey represents to us those who are forgotten, unidentified, lost and missing.

Remembrance Day can bring to the fore a range of emotions and questions, but Psalm 139 reminds us that whether we are remembered or forgotten in the minds of others we are always known to God.

God regards each of us as individuals and with warmth, understanding and love. In a world of depersonalising reliance on data, credit scores and algorithms it is a truth worth holding close that we are known to God, remembered by God and loved by God.