Remembrance

Television commercials are becoming an art form.  Some are more intelligent, and certainly more visually appealing, than the programs they sponsor. The fact that I seldom remember what the program was, let alone what it was about, but that I do remember the ad, is evidence in itself. At the same time, the commercial is often too clever by half, forced along by a relentlessly throbbing sound beat which barely has a chance to finish before the next one, with an almost identical rhythm backing, takes its place. All of this makes it difficult to grasp what it is that is being advertised, or to hang on to the basic substance of the program itself. 

The beat, the pulse, the clever graphics of TV commercials, convey something of what life is supposed to be like now – short term, fast moving, with no holds barred. Everything is possible, we are told, anything is achievable if we move to the beat and pulse which drives prosperity forward. Too bad if you can’t keep up, whatever the reason.

Today there will be a pause in the frenetic beat of the average week day morning, possibly of sufficient impact to slow city traffic for more than a few minutes. Wherever an Act of Remembrance takes place, it will be a moment for being present to its unfamiliar stillness in the beat and throb of life. Most of those taking part will be briefly present to a particular event which they are blessed never to have experienced for themselves. So it will be an act of remembrance rather than remembering. Remembrance is a deep collective state of mind which takes us beyond memories and unites us across generations.

Being present to the conflicts of the past, as they are epitomised in the Great War, is not quite the same thing as remembering. It is more of a bringing the past into the present and standing in it, sensing its own relentless noise and beat. In the remembrance of the terrifying beat of conflicts past, we are made one with previous generations who fought conflicts in the belief that in doing so, they would mark the end of all conflict. We are grateful to them and humbled by their courage and extraordinary generosity of spirit. Those who have died in more recent conflicts are part of their number. They are who we might have been. They are all one generation because all have laid down their lives for us in our generation. 

This moment of silence and of remembrance does not compel us to do something, to respond to the deep pulse of the moment by adding to the existing noise around us. In fact, it reminds us of how little we can do to either prevent war or to make wars end in a way which will lead to lasting peace.  It compels us to know and experience in the silence of the moment humanity’s need for forgiveness. ‘ Kyrie eleison, Lord have mercy’ translates into the faith language of all who are caught up in conflicts today. The act of remembrance is one of solidarity with them, as together we ask for mercy and forgiveness from one another and from God.