Remembrance

It's a sobering thing, to process and lay the parish council poppy wreath alongside the rest, and stand and remember those who fell. The bugle sounds out and shivers run across me. It's a large turnout again, with scouts and guides and a hundred or so of parishioners taking the short walk from the Hall to the War Memorial, to hear the names read aloud and remember that, today, no-one here is being bombed or shot at.

Remembrance is about commemorating those who fell in war to bring peace, but peace was never entirely achieved. Britain is seldom not involved in armed conflict somewhere in the world. Peace comes when there is no desire for war. I wish it wasn't called a War Memorial.

As I lay the wreath, I am gently voicing a Call for Peace...

Within the silence of my meditation, may I find peace
In circle with community, may we share peace
In word and deed and thought, may we radiate peace
So that peace comes to all worlds.


May the gods that be, agree.