Reflection
November contains a number of UK commemorative events – from All Saints’ Day, through the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot, to Remembrance Day and its Sunday services. In the USA there is then Thanksgiving. Traditionally this is based on the feast held by the Mayflower Pilgrims after their first harvest (even though they were not the first Europeans to reach the American Continent, and probably not the first to hold a feast with the Native Americans either, but tradition is powerful.) It was Abraham Lincoln who set the date annually at the fourth Thursday of November, in the middle of a terrible civil war, not only to give thanks for the bounty of the earth, but also to heal divisions.
As the climate conference takes place in Glasgow, it seems we need both gratitude for all the earth has given us, and the healing of divisions between nations. We need to be more aware of the riches we already have, without constantly wanting more, and we need to work together globally to ensure that those riches can be passed on to future generations. Most religions celebrate the sheer wonder of our planet, in all its diversity. That should be something that religions can agree
on, if they agree on nothing else. And we can surely work together on that, irrespective of other differences.
At many tables in America on Thanksgiving Day, there are spare places for people who are alone, or poor, so that they can take part in the celebration too. Let us remember that climate change will hit the poor, and isolated communities such as islands, hardest. It is time for religions to speak up for the lonely and disadvantaged. I hope Unitarians will be making their voices heard.
Kay Millard
November contains a number of UK commemorative events – from All Saints’ Day, through the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot, to Remembrance Day and its Sunday services. In the USA there is then Thanksgiving. Traditionally this is based on the feast held by the Mayflower Pilgrims after their first harvest (even though they were not the first Europeans to reach the American Continent, and probably not the first to hold a feast with the Native Americans either, but tradition is powerful.) It was Abraham Lincoln who set the date annually at the fourth Thursday of November, in the middle of a terrible civil war, not only to give thanks for the bounty of the earth, but also to heal divisions.
As the climate conference takes place in Glasgow, it seems we need both gratitude for all the earth has given us, and the healing of divisions between nations. We need to be more aware of the riches we already have, without constantly wanting more, and we need to work together globally to ensure that those riches can be passed on to future generations. Most religions celebrate the sheer wonder of our planet, in all its diversity. That should be something that religions can agree
on, if they agree on nothing else. And we can surely work together on that, irrespective of other differences.
At many tables in America on Thanksgiving Day, there are spare places for people who are alone, or poor, so that they can take part in the celebration too. Let us remember that climate change will hit the poor, and isolated communities such as islands, hardest. It is time for religions to speak up for the lonely and disadvantaged. I hope Unitarians will be making their voices heard.
Kay Millard
For Younger Readers of Any Age
Although Remembrance Day falls on 11 November, Remembrance Sunday is the nearest Sunday to that date. Wearing a poppy has become a traditional tribute to those who suffered and died in wars, inspired by the fields of poppies that grew where many battles were fought in World War I. The original poppy is red, and that is the one that is the official emblem of the Royal British Legion. But there are other colours too: the white poppy, which also commemorates suffering but emphasises peace and challenges the way we look at war. The purple poppy stands as a memorial to the animals who suffered and died in war. The black poppy is a reminder that many Black, African and Caribbean people contributed to Britain’s war efforts.
Which colour(s) would you wear?
Although Remembrance Day falls on 11 November, Remembrance Sunday is the nearest Sunday to that date. Wearing a poppy has become a traditional tribute to those who suffered and died in wars, inspired by the fields of poppies that grew where many battles were fought in World War I. The original poppy is red, and that is the one that is the official emblem of the Royal British Legion. But there are other colours too: the white poppy, which also commemorates suffering but emphasises peace and challenges the way we look at war. The purple poppy stands as a memorial to the animals who suffered and died in war. The black poppy is a reminder that many Black, African and Caribbean people contributed to Britain’s war efforts.
Which colour(s) would you wear?
A Poem for Remembrance
Much of the poetry of World War I is excellent but harrowing in its searing quality. However, as the granddaughter of a man who ultimately survived the hell of war in the trenches on the Western Front, I have found this especially resonant.
Lament
We who are left, how shall we look again
Happily on the sun or feel the rain
Without remembering how they who went
Ungrudgingly and spent
Their lives for us loved, too, the sun and rain?
A bird among the rain-wet lilac sings –
But we, how shall we turn to little things
And listen to the birds and winds and streams
Made holy by their dreams,
Nor feel the heartbreak in the heart of things?
Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
Much of the poetry of World War I is excellent but harrowing in its searing quality. However, as the granddaughter of a man who ultimately survived the hell of war in the trenches on the Western Front, I have found this especially resonant.
Lament
We who are left, how shall we look again
Happily on the sun or feel the rain
Without remembering how they who went
Ungrudgingly and spent
Their lives for us loved, too, the sun and rain?
A bird among the rain-wet lilac sings –
But we, how shall we turn to little things
And listen to the birds and winds and streams
Made holy by their dreams,
Nor feel the heartbreak in the heart of things?
Wilfrid Wilson Gibson
Bath Interfaith Group
To mark both the COP26 taking place in Glasgow, and Inter Faith Week, Bath Inter Faith Group is pleased to invite you to
Inter faith reflections on COP26: a Hindu/Christian conversation
to be held by Zoom on Monday 8 November at 7.30pm.
The speakers are:
• Jasmine Khatri, Hindu Climate Action, and
• Rev Ian Souter, Christian Action For the Environment in Bath & North East Somerset (CAFE BANES)
There will be time for questions after the initial presentations.
Zoom ID 898 5732 3440. Passcode 667508.
Updates and further information at www.facebook.com/bathinterfaith.
To mark both the COP26 taking place in Glasgow, and Inter Faith Week, Bath Inter Faith Group is pleased to invite you to
Inter faith reflections on COP26: a Hindu/Christian conversation
to be held by Zoom on Monday 8 November at 7.30pm.
The speakers are:
• Jasmine Khatri, Hindu Climate Action, and
• Rev Ian Souter, Christian Action For the Environment in Bath & North East Somerset (CAFE BANES)
There will be time for questions after the initial presentations.
Zoom ID 898 5732 3440. Passcode 667508.
Updates and further information at www.facebook.com/bathinterfaith.
Thank You
My thanks to all those who sent messages of all kinds to wish me well during my recent incarceration with Covid19. It helped so much to know you were thinking of me. I was grateful that I’d had both vaccines, as it could have been a lot worse. Please keep taking safety measures, especially when children can bring it home from school and be asymptomatic.
Kay Millard
My thanks to all those who sent messages of all kinds to wish me well during my recent incarceration with Covid19. It helped so much to know you were thinking of me. I was grateful that I’d had both vaccines, as it could have been a lot worse. Please keep taking safety measures, especially when children can bring it home from school and be asymptomatic.
Kay Millard
Words to Ponder
Last night I stood outside the tent and watched the lake and the sky, and slowly I was overcome by some pathetic yearning and, simultaneously, with a terrible sense of loss and sorrow. It was as if something had died or had been permanently lost – not just to me but to everyone, forever. And I thought of the animals here and the birds and the fish – even of the insects – and of the men and women who were once here, simply, as a natural part of this place – and not just here, but everywhere. And I knew that we had made a separation from them all and from all of this and that we could never, never get it back. All we could do – or hope to do – was to save the little bits of it left. And I thought of all the birds asleep somewhere behind me in their tree – in their forest – and I thought: we were meant to be one thing – not separate, partitioned. We are no better and no worse – no larger and no smaller in worth than any other creature who walks or crawls or flies or swims. We are merely different.
I saw then what I’d come to find and had found: my identity in common with this planet and perhaps, for all I know, with this universe. And I knew then what my prayer is and will remain: make peace with nature, first; make peace with nature . . . now.
Timothy Findley (1930-2002), Canadian novelist and playwright
Last night I stood outside the tent and watched the lake and the sky, and slowly I was overcome by some pathetic yearning and, simultaneously, with a terrible sense of loss and sorrow. It was as if something had died or had been permanently lost – not just to me but to everyone, forever. And I thought of the animals here and the birds and the fish – even of the insects – and of the men and women who were once here, simply, as a natural part of this place – and not just here, but everywhere. And I knew that we had made a separation from them all and from all of this and that we could never, never get it back. All we could do – or hope to do – was to save the little bits of it left. And I thought of all the birds asleep somewhere behind me in their tree – in their forest – and I thought: we were meant to be one thing – not separate, partitioned. We are no better and no worse – no larger and no smaller in worth than any other creature who walks or crawls or flies or swims. We are merely different.
I saw then what I’d come to find and had found: my identity in common with this planet and perhaps, for all I know, with this universe. And I knew then what my prayer is and will remain: make peace with nature, first; make peace with nature . . . now.
Timothy Findley (1930-2002), Canadian novelist and playwright
And Finally . . .
God of all,
Source and goal of community,
Whose will it is that all people
Enjoy fullness of life:
May we be builders of community,
Caring for your good earth,
Here and worldwide;
Stand as partners with the poor,
Signs of your ever-friendly love;
That we may delight in diversity
And choose solidarity,
For you are in community with us,
Our God forever.
From Christian Aid
God of all,
Source and goal of community,
Whose will it is that all people
Enjoy fullness of life:
May we be builders of community,
Caring for your good earth,
Here and worldwide;
Stand as partners with the poor,
Signs of your ever-friendly love;
That we may delight in diversity
And choose solidarity,
For you are in community with us,
Our God forever.
From Christian Aid
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