Remembering to maintain peace

Here's the Address I shared as part of the Act of Remembrance held this morning at Wickford's War Memorial:

In this Act of Remembrance, we honour all those from this town who laid down their lives in the two World Wars and subsequent conflicts. We will remember them. We also honour all from these shores who died in these conflicts. We will remember them. We also honour all those from the Commonwealth who fought and died for freedom. We will remember them. And we honour those from our Allies who also lost their lives. We will remember them. Although the counting of casualties can never be fully accurate, the number of Allied lives sacrificed in the two World Wars is thought to be in the 10's of millions. We will remember them.

What does it mean to remember, particularly when we were not present and may not have lived through those times. What is it that we need to remember. All these died in the cause of peace. They died to bring about the peace we continue to enjoy today. The work to build and maintain peace was the legacy of all those who laid down their lives in the two World Wars. Therefore, as well as remembering the sacrifice of all who died (both military and civilians), we must also remember all that was put in place after the World Wars to build and maintain peace.

There was a recognition among the Allies following the war that global cooperation between nations was necessary for the maintenance of peace and institutions such as the United Nations and agreements such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights were quickly set up and agreed to form the foundation for maintaining peaceful relations between nations. The actions that were taken then by those who had lived through the two World Wars brought about what has become known as the Long Peace. The actions taken to build and maintain peace were taken by those who knew firsthand the horrors of war and those actions were the active legacy of those who died.

In a world where tensions between nations are growing ever more acute and where the institutions and agreements put in place to maintain peace are also being questioned and challenged, it is more important than ever to remember the reason why so many died and the understanding of how peace is achieved and maintained learnt by those who lived through the two World Wars.

Jesus called his followers to be peacemakers and that was the intent of those who died and also of those built the long peace that we still enjoy. Jesus said that those who acts as peacemakers are the children of God. If we are to live as God’s children by being true to the call to be peacemakers, it remains vital that we do remember; remembering that peace was the goal of all who died and remembering, too, how peace has been built and maintained following the two World Wars. May it be so for each one of us. Amen.

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Judee Sill - The Living End.