VE Day, but not as we planned it.

Today we commemorate VE Day but because of the present lock-down not in the way that many had planned. No big street parties or celebrations on The Mall. Seventy Five years ago my mum and her friends made their way up to the centre of London to be part of the crowds celebrating the end of a war that had cost so much, now sixteen she was ten when it all started. Today in the square where we live neighbours are putting up bunting and getting ready to come outside at 4pm for a socially distanced
" Stay at Home " celebration Street Party. Basically we will sit in our front gardens with a cup of tea and a sandwich and wave at each other, with some suitable music arranged.

There can be many reasons why there are wars. One is the pursuit and abuse of power. I have just started to read "Moral Man and Immoral Society". Published in 1932 in it Reinhold Niebuhr explores the use of power and coercion between individuals and groups in society. It is the time of the depression and the rise of nationalism in the form of Fascism and Nazism.  As I think about these issues the question arises how far should power in the form of force be used to oppose something that is evil? In his early life Niebuhr had pacifist tendencies because of his Christian faith, however his views changed when he saw what Germany, the land of his forebears, had become under Nazi rule and he became an advocate of American intervention in the war.

When faced with evil or an immoral society what should our response be as Christians? This is a question that I believe we can only answer for ourselves. What I also believe is that today we give thanks for all those who stood against evil, some making the ultimate sacrifice, so that we are free to ask such questions and come up with different answers.

Loving God

On this day of commemoration
we give thanks for all those
who opposed evil
so that we may be free.

We pray for peace
where there is war today;
We pray for the wise,
not selfish, use of power

Help us to use the power
we have to bring harmony,
not division.

Bind our world
together in a common bond
of love so that conflict may
be a thing of the past and
Your Kingdom may come.

Amen