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Romans 12:2: And do not be fashioned according to this age but be transformed by the renewing of the mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and well pleasing and perfect.

Four memories come to me on Remembrance Day: the story of my Grandfather returning from WW1 at the age of 18, one arm missing, to a hero’s welcome at the train station in Duncan and my great grandmother remembering him sitting in the buggy beside her shivering with anger and doubt; my father refusing to talk about WW11 and refusing to attend Remembrance Day Services; a parishner who was an ambulance driver in WW11 afraid to die because he couldn’t forgive himself for how he handled an incident on the battle field action and so how could God; my son at the age of 16, a sea cadet, proudly standing guard during a Remembrance Day service in front of the parliament buildings in Victoria.

Peace doesn’t come easy to us humans. We remember to honour those who have died for peace and to remind us never to give up praying and working for peace and justice.
I wanted to write about prayer, but the memories of Remembrance Day overshadowed my thoughts. As disciples of Christ we can help transform this world to God’s vision of shalom and peace for all creation through action and our prayer, when we are grounded in God’s grace Every action, no matter how small, every prayer makes a difference.

While serving Squamish United we were organizing congregational neighbourhood house groups. One of our members, a very faithful 90+ in assisted living, want to help. But what could she do she said, I am too old. I told her she could pray, be our central prayer angel, and so she did –faithfully praying daily for us and our mission. She did what she could, and she did it well.

In our book study, Surprised by Hope, Wright says:
Because Jesus has risen, we have more than confidence that our
eternity is secure. We have an invitation to become his ambassadors
in the world today. Through his church, Jesus wants to bring
justice, lift up beauty, and lavish his gifts on the earth. And the
primary way he plans to do this is through you and me.

And as our minister, Dianne, so appley said, we should leak hope, be a beacon of hope to the people in our lives.

These are my rambling thoughts for this Thursday. I leave you with this prayer by Ted Loder, Guerrillas of Grace, Prayers for the Battle:

Grounded in Your Grace


Eternal One,
Silence,
from whom my words come;
Questioner
from whom my questions arise;
Lover
of whom all my loves are hints;
Disturber
in whom alone I find my rest;
Mystery
in whose depths I find healing
and myself,
enfold me now in your presence;
retore to me your peace;
renew to me through your power;
and ground me in your grace.