Lest We Forget

[“Jesus said: ‘my command is this: love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.’ John 15:13”]

The arrival of Armistice Day has reminded me of another poem that crawled unwittingly from my brain in the bleak midwinter many moons ago. It was December 2006 and I was visiting my brother in the wonderful city of Aberdeen. I was wandering the dark streets* on a chilly afternoon, taking in the glistening pre-Christmas atmosphere when, on a whim, I found myself stumbling into a bookshop, possibly on the pretext of buying Christmas presents. After a furtive rummage through the bookshelves, I emerged a few minutes later clutching a small hardbacked book of First World War poetry. I don’t know about you but I have always had a fascination for the poetry forged in the clinging mud of the trenches. It must have been the juxtaposition of my Christmas cosiness with the stark, visceral depiction of war I read in the book that forced the following lines to emerge:

Lest We Forget

Lest we forget

Those precious souls who gave their lives

For shopping malls and sun-kissed skies

Who gave it all to give us back

The hope for life that we now lack

Lest we forget

The furrowed brow that sweated blood

On harrowed night where strength was found

To pull us from the clinging mud

And set our feet on firmer ground

Not through force or might of arms

But spear torn side and nail pierced palms

He chose to give his life to win

Eternal life for us his kin

And so it was, back in the day

Of Ypres, Dunkirk, El Alamein

That many gave their blood and tears

To win for us more peaceful years

And long before, Christ paid the price

With love – the final sacrifice

To save our souls from certain woe

That sin and hell would sure bestow

But yet

Our feeble hearts seek nothing more

Than thirsting for the pointless end

Of warmer climes and fairer shores

And countless wealth too vast to spend

With not a thought to those who fought

And died for that which can’t be bought

And so, these words, though crude, are said

To stir our hearts and shake our heads

Lest we forget

It’s easy to get complacent in our relatively safe existence here in Western Europe. It’s so easy to take our freedoms, our security and our ability to share a comfortable Christmas together with family for granted. But there were so many people who willingly laid down their lives to get us where we are today and an amazing Saviour who willingly laid down his life so we can all experience an ultimate and everlasting freedom that will completely blow our minds when we experience it in its fullness.

Sometimes I just need to remind myself…

*It’s almost perpetually dark in December in Aberdeen.