Remembrance Reflection

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Narrator:    
The prophet says: Seek good and not evil that you may live

One:
Through stories
from the battlefields of war
and among the names of the fallen,
we seek what is good:
the hope that lies unspoken
in a silence deep enough
to hold such good,
the good of giving self for another
that we might live.

Narrator:
And let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

(While congregation sing verse 1 of ‘What shall we pray’ Voice 1 places poppy in ‘river’ and pulls it forward two steps and stands holding it)


Narrator:
The prophet says: Hate evil and love good and establish justice in the gate

Two:
In the name of the fallen,
may we turn from the worst of our humanity
towards the best of it:
found in the sacrifice of individuals
we still mourn, fruit unborn,
and shape a justice
that bears the cost
of such good.

Narrator:
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

(While the congregation sing verse 2 of ‘What shall we pray’ Voice 2 places poppy in ‘river’ and together with voice 1 pulls it forward two steps and stand holding it)


Narrator:
The Prophet says: It may be that the Lord, the God of Hosts
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph

Three:
In love and in hope,
may our poppies hold faith with the dead
and their daring vision of ‘never again’,
this remnant of folk tied to the past,
who chose to act to end all war,
that we might not be haunted by fear of future
or memory of past.
May we be gracious in our remembrance
and hold faith with them all.

Narrator:
And let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

(While the congregation sing verse 3 of ‘What shall we pray’ Voice 3 places poppy in ‘river’ and together with voice 1 & 2 pulls it forward two steps and stand holding it)


Narrator:
The Prophet says: I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies

Four:
May we rise from the solemn moments of today,
from the grief and regret,
into a living filled with hope,
expensive thought it is,
for this silence of remembrance
must one day break
with the laughter of children
living in a world of peace.

Narrator:
And let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

(While the congregation sing verse 4 of ‘What shall we pray’ Voice 4 places poppy in ‘river’ and together with voice 1, 2 & 3 pulls it forward two steps and stand holding it)


Narrator:
The prophet says:
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.

Five:
May we no longer sing war’s gathering songs
that beat with rumour and worry
threatening war may yet arise,
but sing the songs shaped from the names of those
whose voices are no longer heard
so that hope sounds louder than fear.

Narrator:
And let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

(While the congregation sing verse 5 of ‘What shall we pray’ Voice 5 places poppy in ‘river’ and together with voice 1-4 pulls it forward two steps and stand holding it)


Narrator:
The prophet says:
the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
just as you have said.

Six:
Be with us O God
in conflict and peace;
be with us O God
in the noise and the silence;
Be with us O God
that we may turn to you again;
and let justice flow like rivers
and righteousness like a never ending stream.

(While the congregation sing verse 6 of ‘What shall we pray’ Voice 6 places poppy in ‘river’ and together with voice 1-5 pulls it forward two steps and stand holding it)


Narrator:
Come God’s people
if you feel able
and only if you are comfortable doing so
come to this river of poppies
and lay your poppy here
that together our longings and wonderings
our silences and our remembrance
may flow like a never ending stream