Peacekeepers, Diplomacy and Humanitarian Aid: a Remembrance Sunday Sermon

war on warI am indebted to Joshua S. Goldstein’s book “Winning the War on War: The Decline of Armed Conflict Worldwide” and his brilliant statistical analysis and summation of the successes won by peacekeepers, diplomacy and humanitarian aid.  

Our liturgy this Remembrance Sunday was a service of lament. Our readings included a section from Elie Wiesel’s book “Night”.  Here you will find a copy of our bulletin which contains the readings as well as the words to Brian Wren’s hymn “The Horrors of Our History” with which our Choir opened our lament.  (pdf of the bulletin laid out to be printed double sided on legal paper)

Subconscious War and the Culture of Violence

To say that this video is disturbing is an understatement. I post it here because the images contained in the video continue to haunt me as I work on the sermon for tomorrow’s Remembrance Sunday. Perhaps this video itself ought to be the sermon. It’s images say so much more than any sermon I will be able to preach. It certainly serves as a reminder of the precious nature of our humanity. Lest we forget the humanity of our sisters and brothers, we would do well to question the impact of our distractions.