Next Friday, 11 November, we observe Remembrance Day. At 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month each year we remember the moment in 1918 when World War I came to an end. On Remembrance Day, we remember Australian men and women who have served in war and peacekeeping activities. Remembrance Day does not glorify war – it honours the memory of all those who laid down their lives for Australia. As a mark of respect to those who have served, we stop to observe one minute’s silence. This year will mark the 105th anniversary of the Armistice, which ended the First World War. One thing we can do for the people who fought for our country, is to continue the tradition of remembering them. With so much war and turmoil on our screens and in our feeds, it is a good time to reinforce with students that the day is about remembering and honouring our peacemakers and not glorifying war. A long time ago a man called Fred Rogers said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” This quote can be used to remind us to not focus on the devastation but to look at the good in humanity, to see people Making Jesus Real. 

Scripture  

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other. 

John 15:12-17 

A prayer for Remembrance Day: 

On this day of Remembrance, we remember the courageous men and women who give and have given their lives in wartime. 

As we remember the lives that have been lost, let us promise each other to work for the freedom of all who are oppressed in the world today. 

We ask this prayer in the name of Jesus who taught us how to live. 

Amen