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Ministry Team Letter for the Month
Dear Friends,
Memory and our ability to remember is amazingly complex. It is incredible isn’t it how a smell, a song, a picture, or even a single word, like a name, can trigger experiences, places, and people from our past? Just think of the sound of an alarm, a red poppy, or freshly cut grass! With such memories come a whole host of feelings and thoughts.
November, linked to so many occasions to remember, can be a bit of an emotional and thought-provoking roller coaster of a month. There’s All Saints, on the 1st November, remembering people of faith from the past, All Souls, on the 2nd November, remembering loved ones who have died and Remembrance Sunday, this year on the 10th, remembering the sacrifice and suffering of so many people in past wars and ongoing conflicts. In addition to these dates, we have communal events such as Bonfire Night and many people will also be remembering times of individual and personal significance, such as birthdays, or anniversaries.
All of these occasions involve remembering consciously, or unconsciously, people, events, and experiences from the past and present. These contribute to our sense of identity as individuals, as communities and as a nation.
The world religions are big on remembering. Religious faith of all kinds, is based on remembering that there is something more to life than just this life.
For Christians our whole Church year, not just November, is punctuated with festivals and services that encourage us to remember in a particular way, for example, the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Every time we celebrate Holy Communion, the Eucharist, for example, we remember Jesus’ words:
Do this in remembrance of me …
We are encouraged to remember, lest we forget, because remembering can influence our emotions, thoughts, and actions in the present and how we will act in the future. For example, on Remembrance Sunday we remember the cost of war, hopefully, to try and work harder for peace in the future and to help those who still suffer.
This November let us value the preciousness of being able to remember, the communal power of remembering and the opportunity to learn and change because we remember.
Remembering wars and conflicts across the world:
“… we pray without ceasing for justice, reconciliation, peace, and an end to hatred and war. We also pray for God to change the hearts of all leaders and decision-makers in our countries and around the world.
For we are in dire need of hearts that love, show mercy, and are willing to live in unity with others - hearts that respect human dignity and
choose life rather than death.”
Hosam E. Naoum
Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem
With every blessing,
Neil and Deborah
Team Vicars of Wareham’s Family of Churches