Why do we remember? And what do we remember for?
We remember partly because things trip us up, pulling us backwards in time,…….We also remember intentionally. We can make an effort to recall…….To remember is not merely to repeat, but to learn from the past…….To remember is to grow wiser.. …….And remembrance is to bring history in a desired direction, a better direction……To remember, as a disciple of Jesus, is serious work. It means to lift up into God’s presence those you remember in love. It is to be done with great honesty……. We are called to pick up the torch to make of this world a world of which our God would be proud.
Oscar Wilde once commented of Christmas that it should be celebrated soberly every day, not drunkenly once a year. So remembrance is to be done faithfully all through the year, not dolefully once a year in November, shivering around a cenotaph in a chilling wind.