Dear Friends,

 

I hadn’t realised until walking along it recently that Clevedon Pier is full of memories.

We decided, on a ‘day-off’ trip to Clevedon, to go on to the pier, and I was fascinated to discover those hundreds of little brass plaques all the way along which celebrate the memories of individuals or of special occasions. Some are very poignant – lives cut short and loved ones sadly missed; others are happy, celebrating a happy marriage or fond memories, while others are a mixture of both. One family commemorated the death of their eight–year-old child, and then the subsequent birth of a second daughter two years later. I could have lingered for hours, imagining the people represented there.

 

In the past week, as I write this, we have heard news of an estimated number of more than 50,000 deaths caused by the devastating earthquake in Pakistan. The scale of loss is impossible to comprehend; our minds cannot imagine tragedy on such a vast scale. There have been countless hauntingly beautiful faces on our TV screens, distorted by grief, mourning the loss of their families. We feel compelled to do what little we can to respond to the appeals for emergency aid.

 

Sadly, loss of life on a vast scale has not been as infrequent throughout history as we would wish, nor has it always been as a result of natural disasters. Human beings have unleashed huge forces of destruction against each other at depressingly regular intervals, not least in the two World Wars which are commemorated on Remembrance Sunday each year. Almost a whole generation wiped out in the squalid mud of World War 1 trenches; and then so many thousands in the bombings of World War 2 – not to mention the horrors of Hiroshima and subsequent modern warfare. Year after year we sing of how ‘time like an ever-rolling stream bears all its sons away; they fly forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day.’ Yet the tomb to the ‘Unknown Soldier’ in Westminster Abbey is a token reminder that we must never forget the unknown millions who have fought and died for a cause they believed to be just.

 

November is a time for remembering – not only those who have died in war-time, but also the saints of God who have gone before us, shining lights in a world of darkness, and all those whom we love, but see no longer. Yes, it is important to remember: because our faith asserts that each human life is unique and precious, even though so many seem to be swept away without trace in tragedies of disaster and war. Who cares? God cares.

When human hearts are broken by the devastation of appalling suffering, whether through conflict or natural disaster, God suffers, too - the God who, according to the gospels, is even aware of the death of a sparrow; the God who knows each one of us through and through, and values every human life.

 

As Tennyson wrote in ‘In Memoriam’ (while staying at Clevedon Court):

            Oh yet we trust that somehow good

            will be the final goal of ill….

            that nothing walks with aimless feet;

            that not one life shall be destroy’d,

            or cast as rubbish to the void

            when God hath made the pile complete.’

 

It’s right to remember the lives that have been precious to us, and the joys and sorrows we have shared with them. Clevedon pier is a special place because of all the memories that are enshrined there. But if we don’t remember, if no-one remembers, the millions who are swept away, we can be assured that they are remembered by the one who gave them life, and who continues to hold them in his love even after death.

 

Do come and remember those who were, and continue to be, precious to you, at our Service of Remembering, on Sunday 6^th November at 3.15pm. The church will be open before the service, and quiet music will be played so that you can be still and call to mind your memories. There will be an opportunity to light a candle for each person you wish to remember; if you would like their name to be read out, please call me on 857086.

Refreshments will be served after the service. (For catering purposes, it would help if you let us know if you intend to come.)

May your memories bring you comfort and healing at this time of year…

 

With love,

Rosey