Each morning, I ask ‘What did I learn from yesterday? What insights did I gain? Where was God?’
Perhaps today…
…It’s Remembrance Day, 11 November, marking the 1918 armistice. Many will observe two‑minute silence at eleven o’clock. Perhaps thoughts about remembering or sacrifice…?
…It’s also St Martin’s Day. Martin was a fourth century bishop of Tours in France. A soldier, a hermit, joining a community of monastics in the desert tradition. Perhaps lessons in poverty, generosity…?
…I read of young women choosing to live with nuns and their strict rules at the ‘Mary Immaculate’ hostel in South Kensington. Perhaps something about friendship, safety, community, celibacy…?
…There was continuing news about young women speaking out about sexual assault, victims of powerful men, present trauma because of past abuse. Perhaps stories of courage, justice…?
…There were conversations with friends and family… Sunday’s sermon on change, trust, generosity… births, marriages, deaths… people surviving through tough times. hanging in there… Perhaps…?
But then…
I had yesterday afternoon planned: reading, gardening, meeting grandson-Luca…
The kitchen tap was leaking. DIY friend-expert Gordon said we needed special ‘O-rings’ that he could fit. I’d bought them some time ago. I looked… where I thought they were… where they might be… for the ‘somewhere safe’ I might have put them… drawers, cupboards, garage… Lest we forget?!
An hour later I gave up. I ordered some more…
One thought stayed with me. God is in the ordinary, the frustrating non-success, the change of plan, my personal stupidity… unmentioned but present.
On Remembrance Sunday we remembered the verse from Laurence Binyon’s poem – ‘They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old…’ Watching current pictures of war in Ukraine the preceding verse seemed equally poignant:
They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.
And I choose to believe that even there my God is somehow unmentioned but present.
“Unmentioned but Present”
I wish I could buy a white poppy as easily as I can buy a red one.
The red poppy keeps those who have fallen in our hearts and helps those who have survived after fighting our cause.
The white poppy seeks to help us think of the future of warfare and its efficacy through education.
Unfortunately, some see the white poppy as a lack of support for those veterans, be they dead or alive. I would prefer to think of the white poppy as a way of recognising those civilians who also lost their lives.
Both are excellent causes.
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I think the important thing, Alan, is that we remember. We may disagree on how we balance war and peace in our heads and hearts, but remembering is good for all of us.
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