A GOOD QUESTION

 NOVEMBER 7, 2022

MATTHEW 25:21

21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

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At a Remembrance Day ceremony I attended, I can still picture one soldier,  as she stepped up to the microphone and read from a folded sheet of paper she pulled out her pocket a reading that kept asking the same question throughout its text. That question was “What have you done with what was saved?”

That is a good question for Remembrance Week, don’t you think? What have you done with what was saved? Documentaries and news feeds carry presentations that make all too real the human cost of the wars we mark this week. What have we done with what was saved by that great effort, the sacrifice, tallied up in all the stories of struggle, suffering, courage and loss that we hear during this time of Remembrance.

On 28 July 1944 Mrs Bavass wrote to Mrs Blower and said,

My dear Mrs Blower I feel I want so much to write to you, although I know nothing that I can say to comfort you can be of much help. I do feel that at least you know how we grieve with you as our son Alastair was fatally wounded by the same shell which hit John. Alastair was unconscious from the first moment and died at the evacuation station and is buried nearby at Hermanville-sur-Mer. How we wish he too had been killed at once and had been laid to rest with your John and Hugh Ward by those he had fought with and who knew him, but this had not to be. Alastair (known  as "Algy") spoke with such admiration and affection of your son who was his troop leader. He must have been a very fine lad and I feel that their marvelous young spirits can never die and that they together will go into battle with the others to inspire and encourage them. They were both doing the most unselfish thing when this happened - going to the aid of their men - and surely this will not go unrewarded. How sincerely and deeply I grieve with you and how I understand. May God comfort you. My husband joins me in sending his sincere sympathy and I do so hope you will not take this as an intrusion. Very sincerely yours, Doris S. Bavass

What have we done with what was saved? One grieving mother to another should make us wrestle with the question. John and Hugh and Alastair just three names. We hold them and others like them in honour this week. Why? Many reasons, but one is that a mother called Doris in the agony of her loss struggled to answer the question ‘What does this mean?’ Beginning with solidarity and brotherhood, and then parenthood, fear, duty, danger, purpose, loss, to reveal to us out of the deep hurt of loss some sense of meaning.

In our remembering this week, we honor John and Hugh and Alastair, all who died, and those who in their footsteps serve the present generation. We mark with appreciation and gratitude the struggles of so many, but in the honoring the question comes from the lips of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, ‘What have you done with what we've saved?

Jesus once told a story of a powerful and wealthy man who entrusted his wealth to his servants while he was out of the country. The servants literally had wealth given into their hands. They were given an amount that was worth about 20 years of a day laborer’s wage in each bag. Two of them put the money to good use, and when the master returned, they had turned a profit with what was given to them. The third one, however, out of the fear of his powerful master simply buried the money entrusted to him. Nothing was lost, but nothing was gained either. Something had to be done with the treasure that was given. Two did just that. They put it to work so that they and it developed and grew. 

The application of this Jesus story is to ask the questions, have we buried the treasure given us? Or are we striving to make it grow? Are we using it? I know that Jesus in the story was talking about the Treasures of God's kingdom, and their application in daily life. Yet, I believe there is some connection here that is worth pointing out, we do catch a glimpse of the kingdom in the things of everyday when the love of Christ motivates us and flows out of us into the lives of others. I believe it is a worthwhile question of faith to ask what we have done with the treasures of freedom, relative safety, and peace given to us out of the sacrificial sufferings of women and men in uniform. What have we done with what was saved?

I recently read that “To be eager in debate, concerned in politics, committed to justice, open to dialogue, caring of others, and responsible in action, is to do the right thing with what was saved for us, is to honor the dead in our living, is to share the tasks of the master.”

And what have you done with what was saved? A good question to ponder this Remembrance week.

PRAYER FOR THOSE 

WHO HAVE SERVED IN WAR

God of compassion, God of dignity and strength, watch over the veterans of our nation who have served with loyalty and at great sacrifice. Bless them with wholeness and love. Shelter those who are in want, heal those who bear wounds, comfort the hearts of those who have lost friends and family, and bring peace to all who are haunted by the terrible memories of war.

Protect them and their families from loneliness and want. Grant them lives of joy and bounty. And may their dedication and honor, which have shielded us from tyranny and oppression, be remembered as a blessing from generation to generation. Amen.

(Taken from Daily Prayer Website)