Will you remember me?

Will you remember me when I am dead and gone?

Our graveyards are full of stones and memorials to those who have gone before us. Quite a few of the graves mark the resting-places of people whom no one alive now has known personally. Many graves are never visited; their occupants forgotten.

            Others, often where those who have died more recently lie, are cared for every week – I love watching the flowers change as the seasons roll around. People who have been known and loved are remembered with sadness at their passing and joy for all that they meant to their families and friends.

            In Barkway churchyard is a wonderful, weather-beaten, wooden cross. It remembers “John Collins, who lived in the woods”. He was born in 1887 and died in 1974. I have no idea who put the cross there, but I find it poignant that someone cared enough to remember him.

Who was he? I don’t know, though I guess there are some who do. The cross marks a life, a life lived and now gone.

            November is a month of remembering. We remember the saints of the church, past and present, on 1st November, All Saints’ Day. We call to mind those whom we have known and loved on 2nd November, All Souls’ Day, and, of course, we recall the lives of those who have died in war on Remembrance Day.

            Remembrance Day seems to have regained importance in recent years, since fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan has meant that soldiers are again being regularly killed. How do we remember them? Why do we remember them, when we don’t know them?

            War is never a good thing. It causes devastation and bitterness, destruction and hatred. We know from our news how young men and women are still dying in conflict, still giving up their lives to protect others. That is worth remembering, and giving thanks for.

            It reminds Christians, of course, of another man, who gave up his life 2000 years ago, that others might live. He walked the path of love, not hatred. If we all managed that, then the world would be a better place.

            We can’t change everyone, but perhaps we can start with ourselves. If our remembering is to take on a positive meaning, then let it draw us towards peace and love.

With best wishes, Sarah