A peace reminder

MODERATOR

The Rt Rev Susan Brown’s Communion set

A LONG time ago, when my time as a probationer minister was drawing to a close and I had been asked to preach as sole nominee for my first charge, an older, retired minister gave me a present.

He said (I think) that it had been his father’s. It was a briefcase sized bag, covered in what was obviously, army issue canvas.

The case itself was and is more substantial and reminiscent of the one the Chancellor of the Exchequer holds up on budget day!

Inside, in the first third of the case is an enclosed area and when the lid is lifted, it reveals two compartments. In one there is a wee plate, in the other, a cup. I was told that it is a communion set that chaplains to the armed forces carried and that this particular case and its contents had been in use during the Battle of the Somme.

As a very young minister the full impact of the significance of that was possibly a little lost on me.

The brashness of youth is such that history seems so far away. I did, however, ask that having such a connection with his family, if the donor was sure he wanted to give it to me rather than pass it on to his grandchildren.

He was adamant. This communion set was to be used.

And it has been.

The number of people who have raised that cup to their lips is astonishing. I use it for home communions and for communions held in smaller gatherings and even without knowing its history, simply sharing bread and wine together is a fantastic way to connect individuals to the body of Christ in all times and places.

But this particular set, because of its history, is also able to connect people with those for whom a world at war was all too real.

Holding the cup in your hands, the stories of life in first world war trenches, hit home.

It brings close the sheer volume of men who were taken from their everyday lives and placed in uniform to face the terrible reality of war with all its horrendous sights and sounds and smells. Raising the cup to your lips, you can’t help but think of all the names of those on our country’s war memorials who did not come home.

Did some of them too, drink from this little cup?

But for me, the set does one other important thing. It serves as a reminder of the importance of peace – and not only inner peace.

I cannot think of those whose lips have sipped from the cup, without thinking of the price they were asked to pay to enable us to live in freedom.

”It brings close the sheer volume of men who were taken from their everyday lives and placed in uniform to face the terrible reality of war with all its horrendous sights and sounds and smells.

I doubt very many of those who found themselves in uniform actually wanted to go to war, but they did it. The experiences they endured, the sacrifices they made and the scars they carried, should spur us on to live in peace so that no one else should be asked to face what they faced.

As we mark 100 years since the ending of the First World War, the greatest ‘thank you’ we can offer those who gave so much, is our commitment to living in and at peace. For their sakes and to the glory of God.

The Rt Rev Susan Brown is Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 2018/19.

This article appears in the November 2018 Issue of Life and Work

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