remembrance

OUR earth we now lament to see
With floods of wickedness o’erflowed,
With violence, wrong, and cruelty,
One wide-extended field of blood,
Where men like fiends each other tear,
In all the hellish rage of war.
As listed on Abaddon’s side,
They mangle their own flesh, and slay:
Tophet is moved, and opens wide
Its mouth for its enormous prey;
And myriads sink beneath the [...]

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“But there is still greater and more undeniable proof that the very foundations of all things are utterly out of course in the Christian as well as the heathen world. There is a still more horrid reproach to the Christian name, yea, to the name of man, to all reason and humanity. There is war [...]

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OUR earth we now lament to see
With floods of wickedness o’erflowed,
With violence, wrong, and cruelty,
One wide-extended field of blood,
Where men like fiends each other tear,
In all the hellish rage of war.
As listed on Abaddon’s side,
They mangle their own flesh, and slay:
Tophet is moved, and opens wide
Its mouth for its enormous prey;
And myriads sink beneath the [...]

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Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to [...]

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I saw the Prince of Darkness, with his Staff,
Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph:
Unostentatious and respectful, there
He stood, and offered up the following prayer.
“Make them forget, O Lord, what this Memorial
Means; their discredited ideas revive;
Breed new belief that War is purgatorial
Proof of the pride and power of being alive;
Men’s biologic urge to readjust
The Map of Europe, [...]

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If You Want To See The General.

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Dulce et decorum est, pro patria mori*
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to [...]

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Family Remembrance:
George Henry Hall (my grandad), who enlisted in the Northumberland Fusileers, 7th September 1914. Wounded in battle 16th June 1915. Discharged from the army 26th July 1916.
John Alfred Holt, enlisted 3rd July 1916. Went to France 3rd October 1916. Killed in action 11th June 1917. His son, also John Alfred (my “uncle”), was born [...]

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If any question why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied.
Rudyard Kipling

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I saw the Prince of Darkness, with his Staff,
Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph:
Unostentatious and respectful, there
He stood, and offered up the following prayer.
“Make them forget, O Lord, what this Memorial
Means; their discredited ideas revive;
Breed new belief that War is purgatorial
Proof of the pride and power of being alive;
Men’s biologic urge to readjust
The Map of Europe, [...]

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So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb, for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And [...]

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This is a post by Mike Blakey, a friend and former contributor to this blog who was murdered in India almost 3 years ago while working with the charity Tong-Len. A hostel for children is being built in Dharamsala in Mike’s memory. If you’d like to make a contribution, you can do so through [...]

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By Kim Fabricius
I want to explain something to you this morning, something that is important, something that is very important. As far as I am concerned, because — as I hope to explain — as far as I can tell, it goes to the very heart of being a Christian, a follower of [...]

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I saw the Prince of Darkness, with his Staff,
Standing bare-headed by the Cenotaph:
Unostentatious and respectful, there
He stood, and offered up the following prayer.
“Make them forget, O Lord, what this Memorial
Means; their discredited ideas revive;
Breed new belief that War is purgatorial
Proof of the pride and power of being alive;
Men’s biologic urge to readjust
The Map of Europe, [...]

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“Only dead men can tell the truth in this world” ~Mark Twain

I’m sure I’ve blogged this before, but it bears repetition. The reminder came from Trying to follow

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So Abram rose, and clave the wood, and went,
And took the fire with him, and a knife.
And as they sojourned both of them together,
Isaac the first-born spake and said, My Father,
Behold the preparations, fire and iron,
But where the lamb, for this burnt-offering?
Then Abram bound the youth with belts and straps,
And builded parapets and trenches there,
And [...]

{ 67 comments }