Watching the news last evening, and seeing new crosses being added daily to the memorial garden at Westminster Abbey was profoundly moving.  Hearing the parents and grandparents of a young man killed in Afghanistan express their views, some for, some against, yet united in pride for their loved one and grief at his untimely death illustrated the complexity of it all.  Preparing for Sunday's worship when some will recall their own familiy members killed a lifetime ago and others have relatives or friwnds on active service, when some are avowed pacifists and others work on defence projects, I find myself asking, as I ask myself each year, when we will ever learn?

(Pictures from British Legion and Poppy Scotland websites)