Acts of remembrance are significantly different to simply remembering
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Food for Thought by Rev Lorna Tunstall
November is the month of remembrance. It literally starts with a bang with Guy Fawkes night and the dubious celebration of the foiled Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
We have the associated poem that starts with the line "Remember, remember the 5th of November, Gunpowder treason and plot".
And yet I wonder how many people do remember? Folks across the UK associate November 5 with bonfires, torchlight processions and fireworks. I wonder how many people stop to think of the origins of these activities?
The next act of remembrance is, of course, Armistice Day. In contrast we cannot fail to remember the significance of this day.
The armistice signed on November 11 between the allied forces and Germany was an agreement to end World War I.
It was also an intent that this would be the peace agreement to end all future wars.
Unfortunately, as we know, this has not been the case and now Remembrance Day incorporates not only the two world wars but all the people and animals who have died in all conflicts since.
Communities throughout Sutherland held remembrance parades and services last Sunday to pay their respects and honour all those both known and unknown who have paid the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedoms we enjoy today.
These acts of remembrance are significantly different from simply remembering. You can remember almost anything – what you had for tea last night, the details of the dress you wore on your wedding day, the scores of your football team's greatest wins.
Remembrance is different. In an act of remembrance, we are deliberately stopping to pause, reflect and learn from past events. This is what we do on Remembrance Day when we stand for the two minute silence. It is so much more than just remembering.
This is also what Christians do when we celebrate the act of Holy Communion. The Bible tells the story of Jesus at the Last Supper with his disciples on the night before he died. When he broke bread and drank wine, he told his friends to “do this in remembrance of me".
This act of breaking bread and sharing wine and those words spoken are repeated regularly in churches all over the country. For those who take part in Communion, it is more than simply remembering an event that happened long ago, it is an act of remembrance, a reliving of that Last Supper, not simply a memorial of things past.
This sacrament that has continued throughout the centuries provides the most spiritual nourishment for Christians who experience the active presence of Christ in the midst of his Church.
The final act of remembrance in November marks the end of the Church calendar year and the beginning of a new one with the first Sunday in Advent. This is both a time of remembrance and anticipation as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. A remembrance that in the baby Jesus, God took on human form and came to earth to live a human life.
In all our acts of remembrance let us consciously remember the reason behind our actions and in doing so we can purposefully look forward to the future.
Rev Lorna Tunstall is the Church of Scotland minister at Brora and Helmsdale.
