This time of year is ripe with remembrance. All Saints, moves immediately into All Souls, before we swiftly “remember remember the 5th of November”, marking time before the slow march to Remembrance Sunday.

The question we need to ask ourselves is ‘What does it mean to remember?’ Now when we dis-member something we take it apart, when we re-member something we put it back together. Re-membering can be a painful process, because if we are truly remembering something we see it as it really was without gloss or spin. I think that is why TV shows such as MASH or Blackadder Goes Forth hit so hard. They aren’t afraid to say that what people suffer in war is barbaric and leaves lasting scars. Some of these scars may be visible, but some may well be invisible, eating away at a person’s psyche over what they have seen and done. Even after 35 years, the final scene of Blackadder, when they finally go over the top, is still one of the most poignant pieces of television ever.

Re-membrance, putting broken things back together, is at the heart of the life of our church. Every time we celebrate the Eucharist, we hear the words ‘do this in remembrance of me.’ When we gather round that table to share in bread and wine we remember not only the life of Jesus, but also his death and resurrection. But as part of that we bring to mind God with us now. God is not only with us in the bread and wine, the body and blood of Jesus; God is with us as we go out into the world to be the body of Jesus in our daily lives.

If we are to truly re-member Jesus, we have no choice but to follow his way and his teaching, no matter how uncomfortable that may make us, and how unpopular that may make us. Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man (Matthew 5:11). Love your enemies (Matthew 5:44); do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you (Luke 6:27-28).

This isn’t easy. The words of Jesus show that we must have as much care for those who seek us harm as we do those who love us. Praying for those who persecute us, truly remembering the horrors of war and the effects it has on people are, to my mind, essential if we wish to build peace and reconciliation between people. That all important first step if we are to make war a thing of the past. At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we remember not only them, but the full horror of war, pledging ourselves to work for peace, that no one else should suffer the way that they suffer, and countless millions continue to suffer today.