As we approach the 100^th anniversary of Armistice Day at the end of the War to end all Wars, we remember the sacrifice of so many.

The soldiers did not only make the sacrifice, they were the sacrifice.  They were sacrificed by the leaders of the nations on the altar of greed and power.

“They shall not grow old as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn”

is a message of hope about those who were sacrificed.  They are at peace, at rest; we grow old and weary.  We can take comfort that they no longer have to suffer as we continue to suffer.

“At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them”

helps us to mourn and remember those who are no longer with us.

Yet the sacrifice continues. Will we not learn?

Wars and famine continue.  Leaders send men and women to fight for ‘us’ against ‘them’. Leaders stoke the fires of self-interest, burning the shoots of love from our hearts.

Even in peace, the weak and poor are sacrificed to the same altar, shot not with bullets but with job losses and cuts.  Those without the power are those who continue to be sacrificed.

It is all meaningless without what comes at the end.  Here is the true hope for us all.

“But where our desires are and our hopes profound,

Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,

To the innermost heart of their own land they are known

As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,

Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,

As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,

To the end, to the end, they remain.”

Jesus forgive us, we don’t know what we are doing.  Change our hearts and fit us for heaven, the end of sacrifice.

Amen