The eleventh hour of the eleventh day

Although these days we hold the remembrance ceremonies on the nearest Sunday, it's the 11th that is more significant to me, so today I went along to the Didcot War Memorial and spent a little while in private reflection and silence. The older I get the more jarring I find the religious character of the ceremonials, it came to an unexpected head for me earlier this year while I was attending the ceremony to mark the anniversary of D Day at the "Harwell Stone" situated at the end of the runway from which many of the airborne troops took off that day. The ceremony was entirely conducted by the local vicar and barely a few words dealt with the events and people that gave the moment meaning, instead it was all about her God, how the world needed more religion, how "unbelief" was the big problem in the world. It sickened me.