Piddingworth Greg Benton |
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| 'Piddingworth...where St. George's Cross is not yet banned.' --Mark Steyn |
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| Honour all men. Love the Brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the King. (1Peter 2) |
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| Trust in the Lord and He will give you the strength & courage to do your Duty... Rose West Leonard |
| GET THEM NOW... BEFORE THEY'RE BANNED! |
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| COMING HOME |
| The time of Remembrance each year builds energetically and emotionally to the climax of the observance itself whether on the 11th of November or Remembrance Sunday and for our Aussie & Kiwi cousins, ANZAC Day on 25th April. The British and Canadian Legions do a splendid job toward 'awkening' the citizenry to the importance of the event as well as with the sale of poppies whose proceeds go directly to the needs of veterans and their families. The media, military organisations, musical bands, municipalities and schools, in particular, all play their part in preparation with stories of soldiers, past and present, and ceremonies at cenotaphs and in assembly halls. Things come to a halt immediately, almost abruptly, following the Armistice observance. Perhaps that is as it should be. We can be overwhelmed by all that the period of Remembrance encompasses including the personal associations that we have with those whom we have known and loved and lost. There is a time to 'move on'. Christmas seems to have developed in a similar fashion these days. With the commercial advertising beginning sometimes even in September (!), by the time Christmas Day rolls around many of us are pining for anything but Christmas carols and ornaments. Call it Christmas fatigue. Like the Remembrance ceremony that lasts about an hour or so, the opening of the Christmas presents and the last taste of pudding is the end period. The twelve days of Christmas are no longer commonly observed and Boxing Day has become one, not of rest, but the scurrying out to the shops to either return unwanted presents or buy a whole lot of other stuff that's been discounted. it is good to recall from Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol', the admonition to Ebenezer Scrooge by the 'Ghost of Christmas Present': Mortal! We Spirits of Christmas do not live only one day of our year. We live the whole three-hundred and sixty-five. So is it true of the Child born in Bethlehem. He does not live in men's hearts one day of the year, but in all days of the year. There can never be an overabundance of love and good cheer; of giving and forgiving, remembering and hoping. For Christians it is essential to the 'Way of life'; for citizens, whose lives of freedom and prosperity depend so much on those who have and do defend all that we hold dear, it is not an option. Rememberance is not just a one-off ceremony each year but the virtue of sharing in the inheritance from 'battles won' by sharing in the battles that our sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, are fighting in our own time. The war in which we are engaged at the moment, with all it's complexity of purpose and gordian-like strategic demands, is sometimes difficult to comprehend. We are deeply saddened as, throughout our year, our loved-ones in uniform return home. Most alive. Always too many dead. We grieve, quite properly for those who have sacrificed their lives on our behalf and modern technology permits us to witness the transport of the dead soldier from theatre of war, to airfield at home, to highway, to Church and to cemetery. It enables us to united with them in a way that our families could not in the World Wars and more. We bury the dead in our own midst and surrender their souls to God. What, then, of those who come back alive, either well or wounded? These men and women have, like those who have been killed in action, 'done their duty'. Some will adjust well to coming home. Others, because of the trauma of war, will suffer psychologically and socially; even within their marriages and families. Wounds can be both visiible and invisible. Those who have been physically wounded face even more challenges requiring medicine and physical therapy for years. The courage that took them to the battlefield must now be shown in overcoming the pain and suffering and loss at home... 'the whole three hundred and sixty-five'. I recall from when, as a boy, my dear Uncle, Ray Leonard would take off the prosthesis from his left arm and reveal the stump remaining after having lost his hand in the battle of Falaise. Sometimes in fun he would rub the crown of my head with it until it hurt! When he wore his 'hook', he would would often grab and pinch our noses. He still played the piano and other instruments and he adapted to eating his meals differently as well as to accomodating the steering wheel of his car. He clearly overcame his disability and gave a lot of support to the Canadian War Amps; including doing a television commercial for them in an annual appeal. He could not, however, overcome the round from a German machine-gun that remained lodged near his heart and the wounds that weakened his chest and so died early at the age of 49. Still, with the support of the medical teams and the War Amps, his family, his Church and his comrades, he was able to live a life that was full and satisfying. I cherish his memory. This Christmas, as we celebrate the birth of the 'Prince of Peace', the Queen's superb soldiers and the Americans, their magnificent allies, remain at war far away. As we earnestly pray and work for peace, Is this not also an opportunity for each of us, not only in the spirit of Christmas but in the spirit of comradeship and citizenship, to offer our help and support to those who have 'come home'? The greatest gift that we can afford those who have died is to hold high the torch, as John McCrae wrote. By standing by our returning servicemen and women in their need we help to keep that torch bright. I commend these excellent organisations to all of my visitors as worthy of our support and a means of showing our loving gratitude as we 'move on': In Britain, HELP FOR HEROES In Canada, WOUNDED WARRIORS In the USA, OPERATION BAND-AID & WOUNDED WARRIOR ORGANISATIONS Greg Benton, 15 November 2009 The incredible story of Captain Trevor Green, Seaforth Highlanders |
| Produced by the Ford Motor Company in 2004, this message brilliantly speaks to the soldiers and families who 'come home' from war in their generation. A wonderful tribute. |