Our Messy Church was held on Friday 10th November, so it felt right to think about Remembrance and Peace. We have a new member on our “Messy Planning” Team and she always comes with something useful whatever our theme. Sure enough, I received an email from her telling me she had found this poem in her files on Remembrance. It was written by an un-named child in 1945, but it speaks into the situation we find ourselves in the world today.
We can now enjoy peace, learn to love not fight.
We can now sing, make plans, and not be scared or hide.
But in other countries, they learn hate, and live in fear.
Around is war and fighting, and eyes are full of tears.
Will their lives get better, and Peace be brought to th
Protect those who try to help; let the children sing again.
We are so fortunate living here in the west. Children in Ukraine, in Gaza and in Israel, and other parts of the Middle East, simply want to play, to run and to sing. But when you have lost your home, your family, and you haven’t eaten or slept for days, what is there to sing about?
At Messy Church, one of the activities we did was to think about how to say “peace” in many different languages, and how this poem written over 75 years ago is still so relevant today.
Prayer: Lord we pray that children, and people everywhere can live in peace and not war; that the melody of singing can rise above the noise of gunfire. We pray that homes can be found for the homeless, food for the hungry, and lasting peace in place of ingrained hatred.
In your mercy we pray. AMEN