In the silence we begin to assemble a dream of a new world out of the rubble of the old

Here's the reflection I shared during this morning's Armistice Day Service held at St Catherine's Wickford:

On the original Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, a profound and immediate silence fell across the battlefields of the Western Front at exactly 11:00 a.m., the moment the armistice officially came into effect.

This was the first time in more than four years that the continuous sound of warfare ceased in that region. The armistice had been signed by Allied and German representatives in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiègne, France, at 5:00 a.m., but fighting was ordered to continue until the appointed hour of 11:00 a.m..

For the soldiers at the front, the transition was abrupt and eerie:

• A sudden cessation of noise: The relentless "cough" and "fume" of artillery and the rattle of machine guns stopped instantly.
• Mixed emotions: There was little immediate celebration; the dominant feelings were a combination of relief, disbelief, and a profound sense of emptiness after 52 exhausting months of war.
• The sound of peace: One of the most noted aspects of the immediate aftermath was the sudden audibility of nature, such as a bird singing, a sound completely drowned out by the constant barrage moments before.

Inspired by a rare document in the Imperial War Museum's collections, a graphic record recreates the moment the guns fell silent on the 11th hour after the signing of the Armistice. The artillery activity it illustrates was recorded on the American front near the River Moselle, one minute before and one minute after the Armistice. The track is not a 1918 recording but it isn't a fake either. A painstaking process was used to make a realistic recreation of the moment. The sounds of gunfire and shells were reconstructed using the data recorded on the Western Front by the British Army's leading edge sound ranging equipment. Experts, including the Smithsonian Museum say that is a very realistic recreation.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BSLQ7wCpc/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwisj9WqWc0 

The singer-songwriter Judee Sill sings:

‘Every way beauty is slain, it's seen
Though no word is uttered, a grave silence rings
Underfoot innocents on the scene
With humble hearts shudder, assembling a dream

And in each one a manger is seen
Where the dark, by the spark, is redeemed’ (‘Til Dreams Come True’)

It is in silence, unannounced and on the edge, that the gospel finds the soil to take root and begin to grow in real lives. We begin to assemble a dream of a new world out of the rubble of the old not with explanation or information, but by sharing silence – opening up before one another and before God, our unknowing.

In silence, we become aware of our own noise, movement, and conflicts, being enabled to lay those things aside, while also encountering the peace into which God longs to draw us.

We are formed by this silence. As we enter into silence, we place ourselves in the presence of Christ. We create the place and space for a deeper listening to God, the longings of our own souls and a deep compassion for the world.

In silence we make our home with God. We are spiritually and physically turning to Christ and allowing the preoccupations of self to get out of the way so we can allow Christ to dwell at our very centre. Silence is that which allows room for the gift of self and for the gift of Christ to fill that space. The soul empties itself of all its own contents in order to receive the gift of humanity and divinity.

May we use the silence in this service to receive that gift and begin to assemble a dream of a new world out of the rubble, devastation and noise of war. Amen.

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Judee Sill - Til Dreams Come True.

Armistice Day Commemoration held at The Cenotaph, Whitehall

Video coverage of the Armistice Day Commemoration held at The Cenotaph, Whitehall on 11th November 2021.

The Western Front Association has hosted the ceremony at the Cenotaph on the 11th November each year since 1994. This year I was privileged to lead the prayers.

Guests of honour at this year’s ceremony, some of whom are interviewed here about the occasion, included actor Nick Bailey, Simon Bendry, Dan Jarvis, MP for Barnsley Central, Mayor of South Yorkshire, Vice Admiral Sir Tim Laurence and James Heappey, a former officer in the British Army and MP for Wells in Somerset who is currently the Minister for the Armed Services.

There is also an interview with Walter Tull's great-nephew Edward Finlayson.

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Karl Jenkins - The Armed Man: A Mass For Peace.

Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday services

As padre to the Ilford branch of the Royal British Legion, I shall be leading the Armistice Day service at Redbridge Town Hall on Friday 11th November, the Civic Service of Remembrance at Ilford War Memorial on Sunday 13th November, and preaching at the Service of Remembrance, held with the Ilford branch of the Royal British Legion, at St John's Seven Kings, 6.30pm, on Sunday 13th November.

It is a privilege to lead others on these occasions in remembering the sacrifices made by all those who give their lives in the service of others in times of conflict and within the armed forces. This year is additionally significant because 2011 is the 90th anniversary of the Royal British Legion and because the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month of 2011 is a once-in-a-lifetime moment of remembrance on Armistice Day.  

The Remembrance service at St John's Seven Kings this year will also have particular poignancy because of the addition of two names to our WW1 War Memorial earlier this year. Representatives from the families of Charles Brooks and Frederick Allam Smith, whose names were added to the Memorial, will be present at this service as we remember these two brothers, and the sacrifice of their lives, in particular during this service  

The absence of the names of Charles Brooks Smith and Frederick Allam Smith from the memorial commemorating those from the parish who in the First World War was discovered as a result of a successful entry in 2006 to a TV competition in Channel 4's Lost Generation season.

Sara James, one of our young people at St. John’s Seven Kings, together with her friends Rebecca Smith and Zeenat Pelaria, won first prize out of 1000 students who had entered the competition. Entries were open to students aged 11-16, working in groups of three or five to create a short project about World War One. For their project Sara, Rebecca and Zeenat decided to adopt the war memorial dedicated to those who lost their lives in the First World War from St. John’s. The three 14 year olds represented the Chadwell Heath Foundation School and were up against GCSE students from the best private and grammar schools from all over England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Initially they obtained information from historical research of St. John’s. They then compared the names on our War Memorial with a photograph of the church football team from a few years before the war and found that several of the names matched. They were able to obtain more information on the internet using sites such as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 1837 Online and the Western Front Association in order to find out more about some of those who had died.

Their competition entry, along with all the others, was judged by a panel of historians, writers, teachers and others involved in Channel 4’s history programmes. They won a ClipBank History Library worth £700 for their school’s history department, which will enable everyone to obtain further wide-ranging historical materials about the two World Wars. There was also a VIP trip for Sara’s class of around 30 students, along with some humanities teachers, to the Imperial War Museum in London.

As a result of their research featuring on the website of St John's Seven Kings we were contacted by the family of Charles Brooks Smith, in the football photo, and his brother Frederick Allam Smith. Both had been killed during WW1, Charles Brooks Smith at the Somme, but their names had not been included on the War Memorial. Their family, therefore, asked whether their names could be added to the Memorial and that was done in May 2011, with the letter cutting being undertaken by Mark Tremaine of Woodenyou.

More information about the Lost Generation project can be found at: http://www.stjohns7kings.org.uk/ and http://www.channel4.com/learning/microsites/L/lostgeneration/competition.html.

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Annie Lennox - Into The West.