Prayer for Grace for November 11, 2018

God, all too often our broken-ness breaks into the world, shattering your hopes.

As a result the world still fails to be that place where the wolf lies down with the lamb.

We still hurt and destroy on your holy mountain..

On this day of memory, we once again vow “Never Again”,

knowing that tomorrow there will still be plowshares turned into swords,

knowing that there will still be conflicts,

knowing that we still need to learn a new way.

For the ways we, as individuals, as communities, as nations have failed to be peacemakers,

forgive us God. In grace, make us gracious, able to work for hope and peace.

...time of silent prayer...

Jesus comes to us as the Prince of Peace. Jesus proclaims that the Kingdom of God is nigh. In Christ God reminds us of the power of love and forgiveness. We are forgiven and called to keep working for the Peaceable Kingdom.

The time is coming when we will learn war no more. Thanks be to God who gives us this promise. Amen.

Prayer for Peace...for November 6, 2016 -- Remembrance Sunday

God who calls us to love our neighbours, our friends, and our enemies,

we try, or we want to try, but such love is difficult.

God who calls us to be citizens of one shared Kingdom before we are citizens of any other nation,

we struggle, knowing that in our hearts we are a tribal species, looking after our own first.

God whose Kingdom is marked by the reign of peace and justice,

God whose children live in many cities, under many flags, across many bitter divides,

help us break down the walls of enmity, help us see each other as beloved sisters, brothers, and neighbours.

And as we work and wait and pray for peace,

help us live out the commandment to love as you love,

help us see beyond the boundaries of our own tribes,

help us proclaim the Good News of your mercy and the promise of your Kingdom to the whole world around us. Amen.

Nov 11 Memorial Prayer/Prayers of the People for 2012

God of peace and love, on this 11^th day of the 11^th month we once again gather to remember. We remember that in Jesus of Nazareth you have called us to be people of peace saying, “Blessed are the peacemakers” and reminding us that we are to love our neighbour and our enemy as we love ourselves.

But we also acknowledge that there are times when we as a global community fail to live out those words, times when young men and women hear the call to don the uniforms of their country and serve under their flag.

Today we give thanks for all who have chosen to serve their country. We give thanks for their bravery, their commitment, and their love.

But we know that when armies meet on the field there are always some who don’t come home.

And so we pause in the memory of those who went and did not return to mothers and wives and children left behind.

We remember battles at Ypres, and Passchendale, and Vimy Ridge in the war we were told would end all wars, battles where the blood of enemies mingled in the mud and water of France and Belgium.

And we remember those who fell in the war that came a scarce generation later. And again young men died in places like Hong Kong, and Ortona, and Dieppe, and Juno Beach, and in the Netherlands.

We remember all who fell and were buried far from home, or who sank to a watery grave in the cold Atlantic.

Then as the years past the roles changed and we sent our best to help keep the peace in places like Cyprus, and the Golan Heights, and Cambodia. And still some died and were buried.

And then, in this century we sent that our young back to the battlefield, only to have dozens of them return in a coffin carried solemnly to a waiting aircraft.

God, whose hope for the world is peace, on this day we not only remember the fallen of Canada who lie buried under a military tombstone. We remember also the fallen of Germany, and Japan, and France, and Australia. Or Italians, and native Afghanis, and English. This day we honour all who die as a result of humanity’s common failing to live in the peace you have hoped for all these millennia.

God, we pray too for those who returned from battle forever changed by what they had seen. For those who bore, and still bear, wounds of body and soul.

And now, God of love, as we have remembered and honoured, we prepare to go back into our everyday lives. May the remembering we have done here today reawaken and strengthen our commitment to work for peace, true peace. Help us to remember that peace will never truly come from a gun barrel but from the depths of our hearts. Help us remember our calling to be peacemakers at home and abroad, in the big things and in the small. And may we never forget the cost that has already been paid.

Creator, Life-Giver, Source of Hope, on this day of remembering we pause to share words of thanks. Thanks for all those who have gone before us in this world to create those things that make our life easier and better, thanks for all those things that we too often take for granted, thanks for food on our tables, roofs over our heads and money in our pockets – even while we know that others struggle for the same blessings, thanks for family and friends with whom we share our lives. We also pause in the midst of our remembering to hold in our hearts, minds and souls those who struggle this day. May they know that they are not alone. May Your promised word of peace touch the disquiet and disorder in their lives.

God of peace that surpasses all understanding, we pray our remembrances and our hopes in the name of Christ, the Prince of Peace, who taught his friends to pray by saying together:

Our Father, who art in heaven…

For November 11, Remembrance Day.

CALL TO WORSHIP/OPENING PRAYER

On this day of memory we gather to sing and to pray,

we remember the past and look to the future.

On this day when the guns once fell silent,

We come before you God, seeking Your peace.

On this day of hope in the face of terror,

We come before you God, praying with all our hearts:

God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come.

Help us to find the path that leads to the Peaceable kingdom. Open our eyes and the eyes of the nations to find a different path through the disagreements of life in this world.

In this time of story, song, and prayer,

may we be re-committed to being people of Peace, true peace. May we catch a vision of how the world could live together.

And so we echo the old prayers,

Make us channels of your peace. Let there be Peace on Earth and let it begin with us! Amen

November 11 Prayer of Invocation

God of many names, another year has come and gone. Once again we gather in this place on the 11th of the 11th. Once again we pause to remember the fallen, young men and women from many different lands who answered the call of their country and never returned.

God of peace, just as the guns fell silent on this day so many years ago, allowing people to hear the sounds of hope and promise again, may our hearts be quieted this hour. And in that silence may we hear the screams of the dead and dying. In that silence may we hear you calling us anew to a world of peace and justice.

God of life, in this time of prayer and song and memory awaken us to your life-giving presence. May that sense of your Spirit within and among us empower us to be people of peace, true peace. Help us remember that true peace comes not from victory on the battlefield but through justice and abundant life for all people of the world. This we pray in the name of Jesus of Nazareth,who was called the Prince of Peace. Amen.

Remembrance Day Prayer of Invocation

God of peace, 90 years ago today the guns of war fell silent. For 90 years people have gathered on this day to give thanks for the willing sacrifice of those young men who agreed to wear the uniform of their country. We remember the battlefields of Ypres, Passchendaele, Sicily, Normandy, Korea – places far away in distance and time. We remember peacekeeping missions in many troubled places across the globe. We remember a new war with new battles in Afghanistan. And as we remember we utter the words “never again”.

God of life, in this time of prayer and song and remembering may we feel your presence among us. May our worship here re-awaken in our hearts and souls a new hope for the possibility of peace. May you fill our very beings with a vision of your justice that brings true peace to the world. Move among us here in this time together and then send us back out into the world committed to be active in the cause of peace. This we pray in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus of Nazareth, the one we call Christ. Amen.

THe Dreams -- Nov 11 Story

“Stop IT! Stop IT! For God’s Sake STOP!” screamed Marilyn as she sat bolt upright out of a sound sleep. Instinctively she reached out, searching for her helmet. Instead she found her husband, rolling over to comfort her.

“It was just a dream, just a dream. You’re home now” he said, stroking her hair softly.

“Mama, mama, what’s wrong?” came a small voice as young Joel ran into the room.

“Mommy had another bad dream” Marilyn said, breathing deeply. “Time to get ready to go to the service anyway, why don’t you and daddy go down and start breakfast.” she suggested. “And make sure great-grandpa is awake too”. After they had left Marilyn sat still for a moment. When would the dreams stop? It had been a year since she had returned from her Peacekeeping mission but still she kept hearing gunfire and seeing angry people in her head. Even worse were the visions of blood and mangled bodies from a bombing, or a mine explosion. When would it all stop?

When Marilyn got down to the kitchen everybody else was already eating. She looked over at her grandfather, resplendent in his Legion blazer and bar of medals on his chest. She knew how important this day was for him every year. “Did the dreams come again dear?” he asked gently.

“Yes” Marilyn said sadly. “Grandpa, when do they stop? When do I get to sleep again”

“I don’t know”, he said thoughtfully. “I still get them once in a while. I wake up convinced I am back in Italy with the guns blazing. But they don’t come as often, a little less often each year.”

Young Joel couldn’t contain himself. “Why do you cry so much mommy? Aren’t you happy to be back?” Marilyn tried to answer but the words just weren’t there. Instead she reached out and wrapped Joel in her arms, tears streaming down her face.

It was Great-Grandpa Joel who answered. “Your mommy is very happy to be home Joel. But sometimes there are things that happen that we can’t leave behind us very easily.
”
“You mean like when you were in the war” asked Joel, fighting to free himself from his mother’s arms.

“Yes,” said the older Joel. “Even though I came home 60 years ago I still cry when I think about those days and remember the friends I made, and the friends who never came back.”
“Is that why we are going to the cenotaph today?” asked the child. “My teacher says that today is a special day when we remember everyone who fought in the wars.
”
“That’s right”, said the older man. “Each year I stand there and remember all those things. It hurts, it hurts a lot sometimes.”

“But if it hurts why do you do it?” young Joel asked.

“Because I have to. Because if we don’t remember then we don’t learn.” came the reply.

Young Joel thought about that for a moment. “Learn what?” he asked.

“That war is a terrible thing.” his great-grandpa replied.

“Did you kill people in the war” the young boy asked.

JOEL!” his father said, trying to shush him.

“No, it’s okay,” the veteran replied. “Yes Joel, I am sure that I did. But I don’t like to think about that. I saw a lot of people get killed and hurt too.”

“Is that what you see when your have the dreams?”

“Yes, that is a part of it.”

“But my mom didn’t go to war. She promised she wasn’t going to war. Why does she have such bad dreams?” This time Joel’s eyes were filling with tears. “I don’t like it when she cries, or screams at night.

Marilyn tried to answer but couldn’t, her voice suddenly disappeared, so the old veteran spoke again. “Your mom did something very hard Joel. She went to a place where people were fighting and stood in between them. WE call that being a peacemaker. Canadians have done a lot of it over the years, in fact it was a Canadian that came up with the idea.”

Young Joel tried to understand, “so they go to make people stop fighting?” he asked.

“Well, sort of.” Great-grandpa replied. “But sometimes the people are so mad that they still try to hurt each other. Then people like your mom and her friends get caught in the middle.”

“Oh” said Joel, “that was very brave mama.”

Marilyn smiled. “Thank you sweetheart. But I was just doing my job.”

Suddenly young Joel looked very confused, “Last Sunday my Sunday School teacher told me that war is a bad thing. Why did so many people do a bad thing?” he asked. For a moment nobody said anything as all the adults tried to come up with an answer. Then Old Joel sighed heavily.

“Your teacher was right Joel. War is a very very very bad thing. But sometimes we have to do bad things because to not do them would be worse.”

Now Joel was really confused. “That doesn’t make sense”, he said. “Either you do the right thing or the wrong thing.”

“Well,” his great grandfather said, “that is usually right. But sometimes we have to choose what is less wrong. People call that choosing between two evils. Have you ever heard a story about wolves lying down with lambs?” The boy nodded. “Well that comes from the Bible, it is talking about how God would like us to live, how God wants even old enemies to learn how to be together without fighting. Until we learn how to do that there will still be times when people like your mom and I have to go and see terrible things.”

Young Joel thought about this for a moment. Then he looked deep into the old man’s eyes and asked, “Great-grandpa, are you sorry you went to war?”

The old man’s face paled for a moment. “No, I don’t think I am sorry I went.” he said slowly. “I am just sorry that I had to go.”

Joel looked at his mom. “And are you sorry you went away mama?”

“I think I would say the same as grandpa dear. I went because I had to; I just wish nobody ever had to.”

Joel looked at his mom, and then at his great-grandfather, then back at his mom. “I think you are both really brave” he said, “and I think it is good you did what you had to do. And I really hope we can get a pet wolf and a pet lamb to live together sometime really soon. I hope people will stop killing each other and maybe then mama’s dreams will go away.”

“I hope so too honey,” said Marilyn, “I hope so too.” “Come on, it’s almost time to leave for the service.”

Nov 11 Sermon

Why Celebrate War?
A Dialogue Sermon for Remembrance Day
Royal Canadian Legion Branch #145
Atikokan ON

Gord: Greg! Greg! Time to go to the Remembrance Day service! Why aren’t you ready yet?
Greg: Because I’m not going.
Gord: Not going? But you always said you liked the Remembrance Day service?
Greg: Well I just don’t get it. Why do we make such a fuss?
Gord: I don’t understand. You know what Remembrance Day is right?
Greg: Yeah, we get together at the same time on the same day that World War 1 ended to remember the war and the people who fought in it.
Gord: That’s right.
Greg: But most of those people are dead now. I mean they aren’t there anymore, why can’t we just all sleep in?
Gord: Well do we only gather for their benefit? Or do we do it for us too?
Greg: I don’t get it.
Gord: IF we only had ceremonies on Remembrance Day to say thanks to those people who went to war, or to let them remember their friends then yeah, we would stop doing them soon. But I think we celebrate Remembrance Day for other reasons too. What do you think those might be?
Greg: I don’t know, to celebrate heroes?
Gord: That is one thing. But more than that, we celebrate Remembrance Day to remind us of the reality and the possibility of war.
Greg: What do you mean?
Gord: Well a long time ago a man named George Santayana said that people who forget their history are doomed to repeat it. We pause to remember war in the hopes that we can avoid it happening again.
Greg: Doesn’t look like that is working very well. You sure that Santayana guy wasn’t a teacher reminding kids to study?
Gord: Well your right, we do seem to have trouble avoiding wars. You know, they called World War 1 the “war to end all wars”, that’s how disturbing they found it. But unfortunately the name didn’t come true. Still we pray that one of the wars will be the last one. You ready to go to the service yet?
Greg: Not quite, I still have a few questions. Like why do we talk about celebrating this day? I mean you hear all sorts of stories about heroes and great things people did during the wars, doesn’t it make it seem like we are celebrating the war? I thought we were supposed to work for peace?
Gord: That is a good question, or set of questions. Firstly, talking about celebrating the day means more that we find some way to make it special. IT doesn’t mean a celebration like a birthday or Christmas.
Greg: If you say so. But I know there are usually donuts.
Gord: Your question about celebrating the war is harder. I have heard a lot of people ask that over the years. And you are right, we are supposed to pray for peace. In fact in church we often talk about how God’s plan is for all people to live together peacefully.
Greg: Oh, like that story about the wolf and the lamb and the little baby with the snake den.
Gord: Well really it is a prophecy not a story but yes that’s right. So one of the things I always do on Remembrance Day is pray for peace. Sometimes I use a lot of words but sometimes just two simple words the Legion has used in some of the videos they have produced over the years – Never Again.
Greg: OH, so we remember the people who went to war, we say thank-you to them, but we also remember that war is a terrible thing and promise to work for peace?
Gord: You got it! Ready to go?
Greg: Not quite. There are just 2 more things I don’t understand.
Gord: OK, what?
Greg: Well I had always thought that only the “other guys” did really bad things during the war but last year I heard people talking about Canadians doing some not so good things. How do we remember those sorts of things?
Gord: Well that is part of being honest with ourselves about what war means. Have you ever heard the saying “the winners write history”? (Greg nods) Well if we are serious about working for peace we need to write that history carefully. The fact is that by many standards all countries do things they wish they hadn’t or at least wish they hadn’t had to do during a war. Along the same line, I have always believed that Remembrance Day was for remembering all the people who died in a war, not just our own soldiers. We have to remember soldiers on both sides and also those people who just got caught living in the wrong place, and those people who were left at home. WE have to remember the whole story, and that might help us remember how important it is to avoid war again.
Greg: That makes sense. But I still don’t think I want to go to the service.
Gord: Why now?
Greg: Well I keep thinking about what is happening now in Afghanistan. Doesn’t it seem strange to worry about people fighting almost 100 years ago while Canadians are fighting right now?
Gord: Well sort of. But of course we remember them too, and the ones who have been killed in Afghanistan. And even though some of us question whether they should even be there we still need to find ways to remember them, to thank them for being willing, and to pray that they get home safely. All of those things can be part of Remembrance Day too. You see, over the years we focus on different things as the world changes. In the first few years it was a time for people to remember friends and relatives who had died in the war. Then it was a little bit farther away. And now for a lot of us it is a chance to remember our history and to remember the troubles of the present and to hope for the future.
Greg: I think I understand now. And I guess I can go to the service.
Gord: Good to hear. We need young people to keep remembering when the older folks are gone. We should never forget the pledge to be people of peace. Remembering what happens when we go to war is an important part of that.

Bill Remembers -- For Nov 11

Remembrance Day was always very important to Bill. He always made it into a week long event by visiting with schools, Cub packs, Brownie groups, Sunday School classes and so on. But that is the end of the story. To understand why Bill did this we need to go back to the beginning, in this case the beginning is in 1941 when Bill was only 10 or 11.

Bill was the youngest of 8 children. His idol and best friend was his oldest brother Sam. Sam was twelve years older than Bill. In 1941 he was starting out on his own with a job and had just gotten engaged to be married. But, Canada was at war and Bill and Sam came from a family which put a high importance on serving one’s country. So Sam decided that he would join the army. Sam went off to basic training. After his training Sam came back home to be married. It was a time of great excitement. Sam got on the train for Halifax shortly after his wedding; from there he was going to get on a ship that would take him to England. Sam and Bill were both excited, Sam promised that he would bring back souvenirs and tell Bill all about the places he got to see. Bill was jealous but he was still too young to join the army.

For the first few months Bill got lots of letters from Sam who was training and drilling in England. There were a lot of rumours going around town that there was going to be an invasion of France soon but nobody knew for sure. Sam was also telling Bill all about the sights of England, he was able to visit the town where their grandfather had been born and meet with cousins who were still in England. Then the summer came and the letters didn’t come as often. Sam was busy but he couldn’t tell Bill what he was doing. One day in late August Bill was outside working in the garden when some men came over to visit. Bill didn’t recognize them but he just waved and kept on working. But as he worked he was suddenly hit with the sense that something was wrong. Bill walked towards the house and as he got closer he could hear his mother crying so he started to run. When Bill got inside his mom and dad were in the front room with the visitors. "Bill, come here for a moment" his father called. Bill went in and saw his mom crying and everyone looked very serious, his dad looked like he was crying too. Bill sat down. "Bill," said his dad, "These men have come to give us news about Sam." Bill looked at the men and suddenly felt very sick. "They have?" he asked. "Yes," his dad said taking a deep breath, "Bill, Sam’s unit was part of a force that was sent to invade a French port town named Dieppe. Unfortunately Sam’s unit ran into a German convoy in the English Channel. Sam’s boat was sunk before they got to shore. Bill, Sam is dead." Bill couldn’t believe this. Sam was supposed to go, have great adventures, collect some souvenirs, and come back. He wasn’t supposed to die. Bill couldn’t handle any more. He ran out of the house and hid in the garden shed for the rest of the day.

Time went by and the war came to an end. The men who had gone off to fight started to come home. As they returned, Bill would go and visit with them. Some of them came back missing an arm or a leg or blind. Some of them had been wounded but had healed with only the scars to show. Some of them had never been hit but certainly weren’t the same people on the inside. Bill would ask each of them about what had happened. Many of them had trouble talking about it but from the people who could talk about it Bill learned far more than he ever wanted to know. He heard of the horrors of an artillery bombardment, of the terror of running ashore at the landings in Normandy or Sicily, of the sickening stench of mud and blood and decaying flesh. Finally Bill stopped asking.

Some years later, Canada was again at war. This time it was in a place that Bill had never heard of, a place called Korea. Bill wanted to honour his brother’s memory so he enlisted and went over to fight. Bill actually did not see a lot of fighting but what he saw changed him forever.

When he got back Bill dedicated himself to making sure that people did not forget the lessons he and so many others had learned. He organized the local Remembrance Day celebrations; he made sure that the schools had people come to visit, he told his story whenever he could. As time went by this became more important to him. He could see that the younger children had a hard time understanding Remembrance Day because the war wasn’t real to them. Their experience of war was something in movies and games played on the playground. Bill did all he could to tell them what war really was. But there was something missing, something he knew he needed to do.

Several years after coming back from Korea Bill started going to church again. He had stopped after Sam was killed because it didn’t seem to matter. And then as he grew older he found that the church was important. As he went to church and read the Bible Bill began to get a picture of how God wanted the world to look. God’s plan wasn’t for people to fight; God wanted people to live together in peace. This struck home to Bill and he realized what he had been forgetting in his work around Remembrance Day. He had been forgetting to stress the importance that this never happened again. So he began to teach this to the children he met. He began to work for peace in his community, to lead protests against nuclear weapons, to call for more peaceful solutions to conflicts within his town, his country and across the world. So it was with sadness that he read of battles being fought in Cyprus, in Israel and Egypt, in Bosnia, in Kosovo, in Afghanistan, and so on. With each new crisis he strengthened his call for other alternatives. This, he realized, was what Remembrance Day was for. Not only to remember but also to prevent. "Never Again", he said, "Never again can we allow the price of human life to be worth so little as to send young men off to fight and die."

So now, each year Bill still helps to organize the Remembrance Day service, he still goes into the schools and churches and youth groups. He tells them about Sam, about the neighbours who came back from the war, about Korea, and he tells them that they have the power and the responsibility to change the world. And each year, in the afternoon of November 11 Bill returns to the cenotaph. Everyone else has gone home, all that remains of the service are the poppies and wreaths placed around the memorial. And Bill walks up to the cenotaph and reads the names carved into its face. He reaches out a wrinkled old hand and rubs his fingers across the bumps that spell out Sam’s name. With tears filling his eyes Bill drops to his knees and begins to pray for peace and for the loss of his brother and friends.

2007 Remembrance Day Prayer

God of life and community, once again we gather here to mark the 11th of the 11th. We come together as people from many backgrounds and histories, brought together in one place remembering Jesus’ prayer “that all may be one”.

God of community, you have called us to live with our brothers and sisters in peace and justice. So as we gather we echo the sung prayers “Let there be peace on earth, let this be the moment now” and “all we are saying, is give peace a chance”. Awaken in the hearts of humanity the drive for a world where peace and justice flourish.

But even as we gather to share our hopes for peace we also remember that we, as the people of the world, have all too often failed to hear your call for peace and justice. And so today we pause to remember millions who have been victimized by wars of aggression, wars fought for reasons noble and base, wars fought in many places on this ball of life we share.

Specifically today we remember places with names that sound strange and foreign to Canadian ears: Ypres, Passchendale, Vimy, Ortona, Juno Beach, Hong Kong, Kandahar – places where young men wearing the Maple Leaf fought and died or fought and were changed in the name of God, King, and country. We also remember those who remained, and remain, at home waiting and wondering and worrying.

God of all the people of the world, on this day we remember more than those Canadians who went and fought in strange lands. WE remember all soldiers, those in uniform and those in everyday clothes, who fight on battlefields. We remember those who are not fighters but are instead caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, civilians trapped between fighting forces. We remember people of many nationalities: German, British, Japanese, Australian, Italian, Dutch, Afghani, American, Iraqi – we remember their losses and pray that all who suffer will know your comfort and compassion.

God of life, we give thanks for the love and bravery of all who answer, in many different ways, the call to serve God and neighbour in times of conflict. We think of their commitment, their sense of duty, their willingness to risk all and we honour them.

Gracious God, on this day of memory, when we think of those who went and never returned, and of those who returned wounded in body or in spirit, we also pause to name those from this Legion community who have died since last we gathered in this way (read names).
Now, God who calls us to be peacemakers and peace-bringers, we who have remembered and honoured prepare to return to the world. May we carry with us a renewed commitment to be people of peace. May all who gather in this way today in communities large and small become activists for peace and justice at home and abroad. Help us to remember the importance of seeking peace, true peace, and that this peace will never come from a gun barrel – only from the changed hearts of your children. May we never forget that the cost of peace’s absence has already been far too high.

God of peace the surpasses all our understanding, we pray our remembrances and our hopes in the name of the one called the Prince of Peace, Jesus the Christ, who taught us all to pray by saying together:
Our Father, who art in heaven,