Dar El Awlad was honored again this year to
participate in the Service of Remembrance hosted by the British Embassy at the Commonwealth
War Graves Cemetery in Beirut. For many years one of our young men has been
invited to lay a wreath in honor of fallen veterans of war, and I've blogged
about past ceremonies here.
Our young man did a fine job this year and represented Dar El Awlad well.
We hope continue our involvement in the Remembrance Day event.
While a nice opportunity to engage Dar El Awlad with the wider community, Remembrance Day offers a chance for serious reflection. The more I age the more I encounter the potential pitfalls of memory, a topic I've written about before. Too often remembering serves to rekindle pain, extend guilt and blame, and stifle the work of reconciliation. It doesn't have to be this way, but often it is. Even with the respect and class of an event like this, a Service of Remembrance poses challenges. Can we remember the past without holding on to it negatively? Can we recount the misery, loss and brutality of conflict without letting it corrupt our hearts? These are good questions to ask; however, I walked away from this year's ceremony encouraged by an example of remembering well. The ceremony concluded by reading a moving prayer. It serves as a compass as we attempt to navigate the mess and the beauty of this world and our memories of it:
While a nice opportunity to engage Dar El Awlad with the wider community, Remembrance Day offers a chance for serious reflection. The more I age the more I encounter the potential pitfalls of memory, a topic I've written about before. Too often remembering serves to rekindle pain, extend guilt and blame, and stifle the work of reconciliation. It doesn't have to be this way, but often it is. Even with the respect and class of an event like this, a Service of Remembrance poses challenges. Can we remember the past without holding on to it negatively? Can we recount the misery, loss and brutality of conflict without letting it corrupt our hearts? These are good questions to ask; however, I walked away from this year's ceremony encouraged by an example of remembering well. The ceremony concluded by reading a moving prayer. It serves as a compass as we attempt to navigate the mess and the beauty of this world and our memories of it:
The Litany of Reconciliation
All have sinned and fallen short
of the glory of God.
The hatred which divides nation
from nation, race from race, class from class,
Father forgive.
The covetous desires of people
and nations to possess what is not their own,
Father forgive.
The greed which exploits the work
of human hands and lays waste the earth,
Father forgive.
Our envy of the welfare and
happiness of others,
Father forgive.
Our indifference to the plight of
the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee,
Father forgive.
The lust which dishonors the
bodies of men, women and children,
Father forgive.
The pride which leads us to trust
in ourselves and not in God,
Father forgive.
Be kind to one another,
tender-hearted, forgiving on another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Amen
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| Dar El Awlad represented in the company of dignitaries |
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| Laying the wreath |
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| He did a fine job, represented Dar El Awlad well. |
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| A picture with a fellow service-day participant. We did not realize until later that it is Paula Radcliffe, current women's world record holder in the marathon and Member or the Order of the British Empire. She was in town to support the Beirut Marathon. |
