Plenary, 12 Nov 2003
Meeting date: Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Official Report
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Time for Reflection
Good afternoon. The first item of business this afternoon is time for reflection. Our time for reflection leader today is the Very Rev Dr James Harkness, Dean of the Chapel Royal in Scotland and President of the Royal British Legion in Scotland.
The Very Rev Dr James Harkness (Dean of the Chapel Royal in Scotland and President of the Royal British Legion in Scotland):
Yesterday marked the end of the period which we call remembrance. As president of the Earl Haig Fund Scotland and the Royal British Legion in Scotland, I take this opportunity of thanking you for your support and the Scottish people for their generosity. That support and generosity enables the vital and on-going work of caring for the ex-service community and their dependants to continue.
Many of them are scarred in body and mind and now suffer in consequence of their service to our country. I believe that caring for them is a debt of honour. But remembrance should not be focused just on the past, or be confined to just one short period in each year. Since 1945, there has only been one year in which servicemen and women have not been on active service. Almost daily, we are reminded that we continue to live in a fractured and dangerous world. Tragically, the cost is too often paid in that most precious currency, human life, and for others in disabling injuries.
Of course, for some remembrance is very personal. That came home to me a few years ago at Bayeaux military cemetery, where many of those killed in the D day landings lie. We had finished the service to mark the 50th anniversary and as we were about to leave, I noticed a veteran who was obviously in some distress. He was standing by a grave with tears running down his cheeks as he remembered a friend and comrade of his youth. He was remembering in an intensely personal way. Nearby, in a corner of the same cemetery, some German families were doing the same as they remembered their loved ones, some of whom had died at the age of 16.
However, although remembrance is personal for many, it is also part of the collective memory of our nation. Remembrance has this vitally important purpose, which is to pass on to posterity the costly lessons of what leads to war and how such terrible catastrophes may, in future, be avoided.
That is why we say, "We will remember them". For in saying those words we come to the heart of the Christian faith. In our Christian understanding of remembrance, there are two essential elements. The first is thanksgiving, when we acknowledge with gratitude the inheritance that is ours and that has been bought at great cost. The second is dedication, when we commit ourselves to work for peace, dignity and freedom, with justice for all of God's people in this land and throughout the world.
Thank you.