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November 11th, 2007—24th Sunday after Pentecost
9 & 11 AM Services—Remembrance Day—Donna & Ross Layreaders
Readings: Haggai 1:15b-2:9; Psalms 145:1-5, 18-21 or Psalms 98;
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-15; Luke 20:27-38
In preparing for this message today I asked myself, “What can I possibly say to you today on this subject of Remembrance Day?” I’m a young adult, whose never seen combat, who’s never really even heard the stories from the wars from family. I’m of a peculiar generation—one who has all the luxuries modern technology would afford us, one who in some ways is more aware of the conflicts occurring around the world in places like Iraq and Pakistan, but one whose technology contributes to a growing sense of disillusionment with world events. It’s as if we suffer from information overload—being able to access the number of Canadian soldiers killed in Afganistan at my finger tips has ironically made me seem more distant from it. People become facts, events become stored in digital memory so that I don’t have to force my own brain to store such graphic images.
I admit that I don’t often watch the news on television, and I don’t read the papers much. I do check out online papers to be sure, but more of my time is spent on the sports pages than it is on world events. But recently I did have an experience that’s caused me to pay more attention to world events, especially those transpiring in Afganistan.
I met a young war vet…all of 19 years of age. He had just returned from serving six months in Afganistan, his first ever mission. The day he arrived he remembers vividly watching the procession for a fallen comrade. It set an ominous tone for his term of service. Over the course of our conversation I was impressed with his honesty—he shared some of his anxieties while over there, but I knew not to press him for I could tell there are things he could only share with his fellow soldiers. The challenge now facing him was what to do back in Canada, now that they’d taken his rifle away. And how is he to remember his experiences overseas?
I was reading a story written in the Globe and Mail about a 25 yr old soldier in Afganistan whose family had served in the military for generations. The author writes,
“Technology and conditions change, but, in the end, war is still war. A soldier gets by, hoping that the sniper's bullet will pass by his head, that the next bomb will land a little to the left. The lucky return, but they don't forget. Forgetting is the luxury of those who stayed home.”
Unlike my friend, I will in all likelihood never serve in the military. Like most of us present here, I hope to stay innocent in regards to war. But there’s an aspect to it we can all relate to—and that is how to handle a traumatic past. That is, how do we remember those things we would choose to rather forget?
We hear the expression ‘forgive and forget’, but is this really possible? Can we erase the memories stored in our minds as easily as we’d erase a computer disk? Perhaps we should all come to a different understanding of what ‘forgetting’ might mean for us.
Last week as I immersed myself in my studies I came across a work I had been studying for one of my courses. It was a book by scholar Mary Curruthers that got me thinking about memory and forgetting. She says, “Forgetting is accomplished not by erasure but by placement within a scene – a basic mnemonic technique. Forgetting is a variety of remembering.” (53) Curruthers uses the example of a kind of ancient ‘turf war’ that occurred in 4th century in a small Meditaranean town, Daphne, which was a short distance from Antioch. Daphne was known as a town that worshiped the Greek god Apollo, but when Christianity rose to prominence in the area there was suddenly spiritual competition.
In one instance, the Christians brought the remains of a saint, Babylas, to Daphne (it was believed by the Christians that a special presence of God resided with the remains of martyrs). They had quite the dramatic procession welcoming the saint to their city. It mirrored the way the Greeks would process in their worship of Apollo. Some years later, a new anti-Christian Emporer ordered the remains to be returned to Antioch. But rather than mourn this apparent loss (the saint was a symbol for Christian’s sense of Christianity’s triumph over paganism), the Christians worshiped enthusiastically and processed with the saint’s remains out of the city. Upon leaving the city, the story is told that Apollo’s temple immediately caught fire, and would soon burn to the ground.
It’s a curious story, but one the early Christians told with vigour. Because the events, as they understood them, were evidence of Christ’s superiority over the pagan gods. The Christians worshipped in a way similar to the pagans, but their object of worship was different. Their rituals were associated with their devotion to Christ, a devotion inspired by the saints that went before them. The Christians could recall their persecutions at the hands of the pagans, they could recount the pagan rituals and processions. But they chose to ‘forget’ them in the sense that they built new memories overtop the old. They associated elaborate procession with Christian worship, not the worship of Apollo. Seeing the remains of a deceased martyr did not cause them sorrow or pain, it reminded them of the attitude Christ showed as he went to the cross. It inspired them with the same Spirit that rose Christ from the dead, raising their spirits and hearts in spite of the opposition.
On Remembrance Day we are invited to remember the sacrifices made by those who fought for the freedom we now enjoy. But I would also suggest we engage in a kind of ‘forgetting’—the kind that recalls the events that occurred so many years ago but interprets through the lens of faith. The loss of a loved one whose gone before us in the faith can be associated with the hope of the resurrection assured us by Christ. The pain of a past failure can be healed because of the pain Christ endured for us.
The many deaths we’ve witnessed can be connected to Christ’s death and resurrection. As Jesus reminds us in our gospel today, “Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.” Jesus was assuring his audience (who did not believe in the resurrection) that for God all who have lived and died in the faith are alive in God’s eyes. All who place their faith in Christ are assured of a resurrected life.
As Christians “Remembrance Day” ought to have a slightly different significance for us. Yes we have processions and ceremonies that reflect our civic duties and responsibilities. But we also overlap these memories by remembering what Christ did for us as we celebrate Holy Eucharist. By remembering all that is associated with this day in the light of our Christian faith, hope rises, our spirits are lightened, and our love increases.
As we move forward in this service, may the memories of the tragedies of war be transformed as we remember Christ’s death and resurrection.
“Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.” Amen.
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