Five years ago today I was on the Western Front with some students from Silcoates School, my last visit with them as Chaplain. On the morning of the 20th October 2018 we went to Froidmont Cemetery to remember Leslie Ashby. It was the 100th anniversary of his death.
As we stepped off our coach we realised there were quite a lot of people gathered in part of the graveyard. The stone they were standing by was his and they were all local residents, there to remember the same 100th anniversary.
Lelise Ashby was 20 years old (his birthday just 2 days before his death) at the time of his death, killed in action in the last weeks of WW1. He was an only child. The villagers had never seen anyone else at the grave. Imagine their amazement when 50 students and staff turn up to remember him. It was one of the most moving visits of my time as school chaplain.
Now if you will, think of a time in 105 years time. It will be 2128 and I’m unlikely to be writing this blog. Today we are still counting the dead in conflicts around the world. Who will remember in 105 years time? Who will work for peace today and every day between now and then?
This October I revisited some of the places on the Western Front in the Ypres area where every field, farm, crossroads and village seems to be marked by the cross of sacrifice and three dozen or more of the white headstones of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The Menin Gate at Ypres is under restoration but the Last Post ceremony continues, global tourists holding up camera phones trying to catch the enigmatic sense of the occasion.
Half a world away the terror of further conflicts, each with their origins in the past, continue to burn. Ordinary people are the victims, ordinary people like us. As we near the end of this Week of Prayer for World Peace, do not cease to pray.
From my remembered bible: Go on you peacemakers!
May I pursue peace relentlessly.
Janet Lees, 20.10.2023, in Longdendale.