Remember, Remember...

Whether it is the 5th of November, Remembrance Sunday or the 11th of the 11th.... November is the month for remembering. We remember those who have died or been injured in conflicts around the world. We pray for world peace. We remember with thanks the times when the world has been saved from great evil because of the personal sacrifice of a few.

As Christians we also should remember to remember that we are allowed to remember - even love - our enemies. That's something that almost everyone who called themselves Christians in the time of Guy Fawkes had forgotten to remember. Christianity cannot include those who, like Mr Fawkes, have decided terrorism is the way forward. Neither can it include the reveling in his death expressed by burning his effigy on a bornfire, nor the pseudo-Christian sectarianism that marked our continent for so many generations and was the excuse for so many nationalistic wars.

And, as Christians, even as we remember British and Allied servicemen who have been brave and hurt while acting with the motive of resisting evil and protecting the weak, we should also remember the 100,000 Iraqis estimated to have died since the beginning of the second Gulf Way, and all the others across that region who have either died or grieve. Many of these were as innocent, noble and kind as those from our own nation. And even those that were not - caught up in the muddle of history, religion, politics and war - had families who cried and a God in heaven who loved them enough to die for them himself. And that's something, if we call ourselves Christian, we must never forget!