Yesterday, for the Remembrance service - which someone else led sensitively and thoughtfully - the church's Roll of Honour was on display.  I haven't seen one like this before, since rather than a memorial for those who died in active service, it was a list of those who went into active service during WWII, asking people to pray for them.  The two edged in black were the those who did not return.

I was interested - and pleased - to note that the minister who led us read out the names of those from the church who had died during the two World Wars... similar to what I have done in the past, displaying the names on a PowerPoint presentation.

During the silence, I paused to remember those on the Memorials at Dibley and at the Gathering Place... I can't recall all the names, but I recall the memories of remembering them... and still the lists grow, year on year... and still we pray that Gods rule of shalom will be found in human hearts and lives.

Remembrance is important - as the saying goes, those who forget their past are doomed to repeat it.

Remembrance is complex - it stirs strong feelings, sometimes intemperate feelings, with people taking sides and misunderstanding (or even choosing not to understand) either the histories or the stories of others.

Remembrance is nuanced - it recognises that this cannot be about 'us and them', cannot be reduced to 'just war theory' or to a utopian ideal that 'the world will live as one.'  Many - often most - military deaths are conscripts and/or young people from less privileged and even disadvantaged backgrounds.  Civilian deaths - sometimes expressed using a 'civilian casualty ratio' are significant, and can be as high as those of military personnel. 

More recently there has been an interest in animals in war, perhaps arising from Michael Morpurgo's children's classic 'War Horse.  I read this week that an estimated 500,000 cats were deployed to the trenches in World War I, to say nothing of ships' cats.  Horses, dogs, homing pigeons... animals who do not choose political causes but are taken - and sometimes trained - for combat situations... sniffer dogs are more 'expendable' than soldiers.

So, I choose to remember, to enter the place of discomfort, to name and honour those who died... to wrestle with the big questions of war and peace and justice and rights and goodness knows what else... I choose to remember, because to forget is yet more dangerous. 

It's no secret that I love cats, and these two, today, are sporting purple poppies of remembrance for animals who also served... 

Yesterday I needed to travel to Glasgow for a meeting.  As my train neared Central Station I wondered what/how I would feel.  Actually I didn't feel anything very much, realising that, although I had lived longer in Glasgow than anywhere else, I am, at heart, a 'wandering Aramean'.  It was a beautifully sunny day, and Glasgow was looking her very best, but she isn't home anymore, rather, like London and Northampton, like Warrington, Derby, Leicestershire and Manchester, she is somewhere I once lived, whose story is part of mine (and I part of hers) but all of it part of greater, more mysterious and wonderful whole.  I don't expect other people to 'get' that, since most people are rooted somewhere, but it's my truth.  I loved my time in Glasgow, and I treasure the memories and the friendships... but my 'citizenship' isn't defined by geography.  I recall half a lifetime ago saying 'wherever I park my car, that's my home'... now I guess I would, if pressed, say 'home is where my cats are.'

The photo is inside Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow - somewhere I had never been able to visit when I lived there.  It is a beautiful, tranquil place, and reminder of the universality of God's unending love that is unconfined by human geography.   

Cafe on the Corner is one of the social enterprise cafes near where I live.  A place that serves food and drinks at competitive prices, and ploughs all its 'profit' (surplus) into social projects.  It is set in part of a former church, and occupies a handy corner position (hence its name) and serves very tasty breakfasts, lunches and sweet treats.  The same premises also house a food bank and a bicycle workshop, serving the local community in many ways.

If you are visiting this town, it's worth a visit.

One of the roles I share in at vicar school is helping our students to learn about, and reflect on, important skills, practices and characteristics.  This term we are focusing on weddings, and on Wednesday were thinking about symbols, rituals, liturgies and ceremonies.  My colleague and I pooled some resources, including stoles, candles, ribbons, and a quaich.  It was lovely to overhear the 'oohs' of participants walking into the chapel and seeing the visual centre-piece.... which I guess is a little of what you aspire to in creating the space for an actual wedding ceremony.

I am enjoying starting to share in this aspect of 'formation'  alongside some of the more strategic and administrative work.

Definitely still needing my L-plates, but having fun learning.