“Remember, remember, the 5th of November.
Gunpowder, treason and plot.”
November seems to be the month for remembering as it also contains Remembrance Sunday in addition to the very different remembering of Bonfire Night.
Why is it so important that we do remember what has occurred in the past? Both the Bonfire Night rhyme and Remembrance Sunday are in part about remembering in order that we learn lessons for the past and don’t repeat the treason or conflicts of the past. The poet Steve Turner has written a salutary short poem called ‘History Lesson’ on this theme:
History repeats itself.
Has to.
No-one listens.
Our annual acts of remembrance as a nation and in our culture are attempts try to ensure that the ignorance of the past that Turner identifies should occur as infrequently as possible.
Each year the Civic Remembrance Service in Redbridge includes an act of commitment in which those present affirm their intent to seek to live peacefully as a response to the blood shed in two World Wars and subsequent conflicts. This year, because the Mayor of Redbridge has chaplains from each of the borough’s faith groups we will be using a different act of commitment; one developed at the Millennium specifically by the faith communities found in the UK.
The Mayor’s Chaplains will say together: In a world scarred by the evils of war, racism, injustice and poverty, we offer this joint Act of Commitment as we look to our shared future. We commit ourselves, as people of many faiths, to work together for the common good, uniting to build a better society, grounded in values and ideals we share: community, personal integrity, a sense of right and wrong, learning, wisdom and love of truth, care and compassion, justice and peace, respect for one another, for the earth and its creatures. We commit ourselves, in a spirit of friendship and co-operation, to work together alongside all who share our values and ideals, to help bring about a better world now and for generations to come.
The Bible is also full of encouragement to reflect. The words, reflect, consider, ponder, meditate and examine, crop up everywhere. God encourages us to reflect on everything; his words (2 Timothy 2.7), his great acts (1 Samuel 12.24), his statutes (Psalm 119.95), his miracles (Mark 6.52), Jesus (Hebrews 3.1), God's servants (Job 1.8), the heavens (Psalm 8.3), the plants (Matthew 6.28), the weak (Psalm 41.1), the wicked (Psalm 37.10), oppression (Ecclesiastes 4.1), labour (Ecclesiastes 4.4), the heart (Proverbs 24.12), our troubles (Psalm 9.13), our enemies (Psalm 25.19), our sins (2 Corinthians 13.5). Everything is up for reflection but we are to be guided by the need to look for the excellent or praiseworthy (Philippians 4.8) and to learn from whatever we see or experience (Proverbs 24.32).
Clearly all this reflection cannot take place just at specific times. Just as we are told to pray always, the implication of the Bible's encouragement to reflection is that we should reflect at all times. We need to make a habit of reflection, a habit of learning from experience and of looking for the excellent things.
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Paramore - Hallelujah.
