Remembrances

I am writing this post on the morning of Remembrance Sunday and will soon be preparing to share in a public act at the village war memorial and a joint service at the Parish Church in Yelvertoft.  But this past week has also been largely about remembrance as Doreen and I spent almost all of it in the south east of England.

Last Monday I attended a trustees meeting for Sunrise Ministries (the charity under which Rural Sunrise - now Rural Mission Solutions operates) in my capacity as company and charity secretary.  On Wednesday we both attended the funeral and thanksgiving services for a former member of Herstmonceux Free Church, where I was minister for almost 15 years.  By making some diary adjustments we were able to stay in East Sussex from Sunday evening until Friday afternoon and take a few days "break".

This also provided opportunity to visit friends and family in Hastings, Herstmonceux and the surrounding area.  Each day was filled with such activity that brought with it precious memories from the past and repeated occasions of thanksgiving for God's faithful blessings.  Happily included in this was a brief visit to an elderly aunt whom I had not seen for far too long.  She is the last of my aunts and uncles and I had spent many happy days of childhood at play with one of her sons who was the same age as me.  Tragically, he died while still a young man.

A busy life (I am often told too busy) has meant that links of family and friends have not always been serviced as I would have desired and I relished all these opportunities for such visits, including an evening with Doug with whom I was at two schools and sang in a semi-professional boy band at one time!

Occasions of remembrance do many things.  They can bring sadness as well as joy.  They can bring regret.  But they can also bring a fresh commitment to the quality of the time remaining.  This morning I will be speaking to this theme starting with the words, "Tell them that for their tomorrow we gave our today".  In the light of their sacrifice - and that of the cross - what kind of world are we building? Would they be disappointed?  Is God disappointed?

Among the past week's many discussions came two comments about this blog.  The first was that many friends and prayer partners feel excluded if they do not have internet access and do not receive paper based news.  The second was from a regular reader of the blog who expressed appreciation for it.  I admit that the relative ease of blogging and sending emails has led to a serious reduction in the number of newsletters that go out in the post.  It is, in part, also a matter of time management.  So I am wondering whether any reader of this diary blog would be prepared to help by producing an edited version of a month's news that could be contained on two sides of A4.  Copy and paste would be possible.  Some photos could also be copied.  If this was then emailed to the office Doreen and I could mail the letters out.  Any offers would be welcome please.

I end this posting by remembering the outside wall of an Anglo-Catholic church in St. Leonards-on-Sea that I often passed as a child on foot, bicycle, and bus.  Each time I glanced at the large crucifix and read the words beneath: "Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?" (Lam. 1:12).  Remembering the past can be very important.