St Edburg's Church - Bicester

A few years ago, Sarah and I had the privilege to visit the Holy Land on pilgrimage.  One of the sights that struck me was at the Church of the Beatitudes, near the Sea of Galilee, whose grounds are full of palm trees.

​

Now it’s normally poppies that help us think about Remembrance Day, but there’s something remarkable about these trees that got me thinking.  Eighteen months before our visit, there had been a fire at the church, and all the trees’ trunks were charred, with their “palmy” sections scorched away.

​

You would have thought that being burned like that would kill the trees, but no.  Out of charred trunks their leaves have grown again.  The trunks will carry their scars for the rest of their lives, but the crowns are flourishing!

They remind me of those women and men who, for our freedom, have put themselves in harm’s way, given up their freedom, happiness and lives, and lost friends and loved ones – people whose lives were scarred with suffering, so that we could have a future.

​

Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  And the Christian faith is based on the belief that Jesus laid down his life for us.  What great love so many of those who have given their lives in war and conflict showed in paying such a costly price.

​

And what of the future their sacrifice helped to make possible?  Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is near”.  If that’s true, then maybe we get a peek of it when we see societies, countries, communities where people are safe, where they are free, and where everyone has the chance to succeed in life.

​

Where life is sweet.

​

So, as we consider those palm trees, let’s thank God for those men and women who gave so much.

And let’s remember them.

 

Revd Sam Mortimer