14th. November. 2021. Act of Remembrance North Queensferry.
10.55 a.m. 14th November, 2021.
(at the War Memorial)
10.55:00 am
Welcome and announcements.
10.55.30
Call to Worship: The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you; Our help is in the name of the Lord, maker of heaven and earth
10.56 Hymn: Oh God our help in Ages past
10.58 The Eulogy
10.59 The Last Post
11.00 The Silence
11.02: Reveille.
The laying of the Wreaths
The reading of names and Kohima Epitaph:
‘When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Your Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today.
The Reading: Psalm 46.
The Address
The Prayers; Act of Commitment to Peace and Lord’s Prayer.
Benediction.
The National Anthem.
Reading
Psalm 46
1 God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change,
though the mountains shake in the heart of the sea;
3 though its waters roar and foam,
though the mountains tremble with its tumult. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy habitation of the Most High.
5 God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved;
God will help it when the morning dawns.
6 The nations are in an uproar, the kingdoms totter;
he utters his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah
8 Come, behold the works of the Lord;
see what desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
10 ‘Be still, and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
I am exalted in the earth.’
11 The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
ADDRESS
What is it, this act of remembrance, this calling to mind of those whose names were read a moment ago?
At this distance of time, it is the remembrance of those whom we never knew; but as we remember them, perhaps we remember also those whom we did know once in a distant and otherwise forgotten time; and it may be that we remember also those whose death yet sears our souls. In this act of remembrance, we seek to make sense of it all, through ritual, through the symbolism of the poppies, but, always and above all, through those names inscribed upon the stone.
They were not names only: young men (and most of them were young) going out in the hope of a new tomorrow, to know only a brutal death in the mud of Flanders; young men dying on the beaches of Normandy; young people who died in Korea, in Northern Ireland, in the Falklands, in Iraq and in Afghanistan.
Young men, who played football, who went to dances and laughed and were happy, who knew joy. Young men who fought and who hurt and who died. Young men who are names now carved upon a stone.
Quam dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.
But it is not sweet nor is it beautiful to die for our country: it is brutal, and it is cruel. And that is precisely why we should remember them, not only for the sacrifices they made for those of us who came after them, but also for the selfishness, the greed, the pride and the ambition that sowed and continue to sow the seeds of war. And we should remember the innocent, the broken, the victims of war.
And so, we stand here, heads bowed, and in this act of remembrance, we see with a clear vision that we owe it to those who gave their tomorrows for our today to work to the utmost of our strength towards that day when the nations shall be healed, all war shall be ended, all pain forgotten, all grief comforted, and when there shall be an end to remembering.
And now let us pray:
Father God, we come before you this solemn day of Remembrance in gratitude for all who have died that we might live, endured pain that we might taste joy, known servitude that we might know freedom. In your presence, Lord, we remember heroism, and courage and sacrifice; and grief, and human frailty and the futility of war. Remembering these things, we remember that this is a world which is broken and we ask that you should heal it: heal the hurt; heal the heartache, heal this broken world, O Lord.
God of power and of love, bless our nation and our Commonwealth. Give Wisdom and strength to the Queen, to her Ministers, and to the First Minister of Scotland; govern those who make our laws, guide those who direct our common life and have governance over us, and grant that they may direct and govern the life of this country for the good of all of its people.
Graciously give your protection to all members of our armed forces who daily face dangers in order to guard our liberties wherever their duty calls them. Defend them in danger. Give them courage to meet all perils with discipline and loyalty, so that they may serve the cause of justice and of peace to the honour of your name.
Bless those who are the victims of war as well as those everywhere who suffer from want, from hunger, from disease; and bless all those whose lives are shattered by war. Give them a place of safety in your embrace.
And we who today, here and in our churches and in our homes are gathered in remembrance, we pray, Lord, that you will bless us. Being mindful of the great evil that war brings, mindful of the sacrifice that our grandparents, our parents, our brothers and sisters made that we may live at peace, we ask that you should give us the courage to be worthy of their sacrifice, and the resolve to be instruments of your peace and of your healing in a divided world.
And Bless us now as we say together this, our Act of Commitment to Peace
Lord God our Father, we pledge ourselves to serve thee and all mankind, in the cause of peace for the relief of want and suffering, and for the praise of thy name. Guide us by thy Spirit; Give us wisdom; Give us courage; Give us hope; And keep us faithful now and always.
These things we pray in the name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who died for us and reigns now in glory with you and with the Spirit, and in whose words we sum up all of our prayers, saying:
Our father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven,
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors,
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil,
For thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory
For ever.
Amen.
Dismissal and Blessing:
Go now in peace to love and to serve the Lord.
And the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and ever more.
Amen