Tricky ~ a Remembrance Day prayer

​Remembrance Day is tricky
There are those who fought in service of their countries
We pray for them
And there are those who as conscientious objectors did not
and stood for peace
And we pray for them

There are those who lived through and died in combat
And those who lived and died imprisoned
by their own countries
We pray for them

We wear poppies
red poppies and white poppies knowing we need to remember
But to remember what?
Heroism and loss and death and judgement and hope
and quietly just carrying on through the destruction to keep families
     and communities alive
And mostly to remember peace
And to mourn our inability to keep it
And to look into our own hearts and heal our wounds
To heal our greed and our fear of difference and our sense of being right
and our belief  that we know what’s best
​for everyone

We pray
That we learn to pause

And to breath

And to connect to the peace of Christ
​
To learn to be in companionable conflict with each other
Our families and communities
Because if we cannot talk about the things we disagree about
with those we love and care about
we will not know how to talk to people who look different
and speak differently and see the world through a different lens
And we will never learn that perhaps they have something to teach us

We remember that everything is created twice
The first when it is envisioned and the second when it is made real
So we pray that what we envision is God’s kingdom
That we see ourselves as agents of peace in every aspect of our lives
That we envision a love that both holds the other
And holds each other accountable,
With compassion and kindness,
as we walk this journey together

Remembrance Day is tricky because we boldly remember the ways we have failed
Then boldly lay that aside like yesterday’s wilted wreath
Honouring each piece as we take it apart
And, taking the seeds from the dying poppies, plant a garden

Plant a garden

Today we remember and we pray

We remember the past so we can join God in co-creating our future
We remember the past because our story emerges from these stories
We remember the past and remember that
We live the kingdom of God
Or we don’t
Lest we forget

        ~ Kimiko Karpoff, November 11, 2017