This is a season of remembering, not just a day set aside for honouring those who have served their country in the fight for freedom and justice.
"I lost 368 men in 18 minutes," recalled one member of my congregation - and I am speechless. I cannot even fathom the depth of sorrow that a commander might feel as he watches his men fall in death.
But I know this commander knew every man and with conviction of a greater cause, he would fight on.
So it is that on this 11th hour, of the 11th day, in the 11th month and in the 11th year - I will stand beside the commander and still my heart and mind to remember those who have "run their course with faith" - and to pray for those who now face their own challenges.
For this is the time when the commander will soon face his own mortality.
I know he has heard these words of comfort from the Apostle Paul's writing, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet will sound and the dead shall be raised ... and we shall all be changed."
We remember and we give thanks for lives so bravely lived - in times of war and in times of peace.
