Remembrance 2015 | nkchurch

red

It is as autumn falls
the season of remembrance finds its place
not in the bright greens of summer
and the tall trees of harvest
but in the dying of the light
and the corridors of leaf and lichen
that carpet the paths we walk

Here in the coppers and ochres
red seems an unnatural colour
too bright for autumn
too vibrant as the drizzle soaks through

But it is so that we can see
even for a short time
that which stands against the world
so bright in its generosity
of giving
of self giving
of self-giving love
stark against the powers of the world
as red as a poppy
against the burned out leaves of autumn

remembrance
makes us notice
what we have and can become

As the day folds up all its memories of silence
May what remains be the unusual truth of love

As the light slips away and the flags as taken down
May what remains be the space left of those what gave

As the words begin to take over again
May an echo remain that challenges a richer way to speak

As tomorrow approaches and today completes itself
May what remains be the incompleteness of remembrance

As leaves shake themselves from tired trees
May what remains be the intent of new greening

As silence now becomes filled with the preparing of tomorrow
May a fragment remain from the loss of the day

And as poppies wait and weep in the rain
May we remember always lest we unlearn today

We Light a Light

Each 'voice' holds a lit candle while they read then place the candle with a poppy on the front, onto the communion table while the congregation sings a verse from 'What shall we pray'.

Voice 1:
We light a light for the people with memories
of wars past and pain present
and the cost that keeps rising
of what has been done for us all

Congregation sings: What shall we pray… v1

Voice 2:
We light a light for the people of the past
who gave so much for our present living
that we might remember, not with a silent thought
but in the transformation of how we live together

Congregation sings: What shall we pray… v2

Voice 3:
We light a light for the people of the present
who are migrants of war and displaced by conflict
who are a very real reminder to us all
of what we have yet to learn

Congregation sings: What shall we pray… v3

Voice 4:
We light a light for the people who know not
how little a poppy and a silence is
for those who have given so much more:
we will remember them.

Congregation sings: What shall we pray… v4

Voice 5:
We light a light for the people of Afghanistan
of Syria and Iraq and so many others
where conflict is always present
and the future unsure

Congregation sings: What shall we pray… v5

Voice 6:
We light a light for the people of our community
who fight in our name today
and others whose memory was cut short by war
yet who are not forgotten

Congregation sings: What shall we pray… v6

We will remember

Minister: They shall not grow old

A: Poppies red
B: Silence deep
A: Lives given
B: Memories long
A: Pain longer
B: War remains
Both: We shall remember them

Minister: as we that are left grow old

A: The world at war
B: Afghanistan and Iraq
A: Flanders Field
B: Gallipoli
A: Hiroshima
B: Conflict still
Both: We shall remember them

Minister: Age shall not weary them

A: Injuries and hurt
B: Families divided
A: Enemies made
B: Communities broken
A: Knowledge of war
B: Pain of it all
Both: We shall remember them

Minister: nor the years condemn

A: Stories of war
B: Films of victory
A: Giving life
B: For community
A: European migrants
B: Terrorism
Both: We shall remember them

Minister: At the going down of the sun

A: Remembering is change
B: Renewal
A: Learning
B: Hope
A: Need
B: Peace
Both: We shall remember them

Minister: And in the morning

A: Enemies no more
B: Peaceful lives
A: Honourable living
B: Question why
A: Happy living
B: Poppies of peace
Both: We shall remember them