This year on Sunday 11th November 2018 marked 100 years since the end of World War I.

I attended St Paulinus Church of England, to join in with its annual Remembrance Sunday service and even with the dismal weather; the service still marched on to success.

Cadets, Police officers, Charity workers and Ex-army officers took part in the vibrant parade after the church service to Crayford War Memorial.

However, I couldn’t help but feel that something was missing from not only the service but also the entire Remembrance Day celebration in general.

And that was meaning.

Now it feels like we are going through the motions of what to actually do on Remembrance Day and the days that led up to it.

Wearing those poppies as decorations...when they are actually symbols of so many lives lost.

Symbols of people who fought in wars over 100 years ago.

But that is where the problem lies.

The Millennial generation was not born during 1914-1918 or 1939-1945.

Both WWI and II were before their time and you can’t help but notice as a young person, the lack of interest in celebrating Remembrance Day, attending church services and treating those 2 minutes of silence with respect.

Remembrance Day isn’t like Halloween, Christmas Day or Easter.

It is not an annual holiday where we seek our own personal gain but instead a chance to remember the people who fought for our freedom and rights, because without those men and women who put their lives on hold to serve their countries, 2018 would be a completely different year.

In fact, our lives would be completely different.

So the least we can do is honour those people. And at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that everyone is taking part. Remembrance Day does not take into account your age, race, or nationality because on the 11th November we all became equals, we all had something to be thankful for.

Can you imagine if those wars were still happening now?

Can you imagine what it would be like to see so much death and horror?

Can you imagine leaving you families knowing that you might not ever see them again?

We can’t imagine a world like this because WWI & II did end.

It is important that we appreciate their hard work because they sacrificed their lives so that future generations would not suffer and live in a world of endless war.

I wanted to find out what Remembrance Day actually meant to people, so I asked Richard (a Church server) what it was like to be part of the celebrations:

“Being a part of Remembrance Day celebration is a very enjoyable experience because you are providing service for those who wish to pay their respects and concentrate on thanking the soldiers who fought for us in the World Wars.  It is also important that we bring the Lord into such occasions and bring people closer to the Lord. Even though it rained, we were able to get a little idea of how the soldiers felt in the trenches and we feel a bit closer to them.” 

We clearly need Remembrance Day.

It is a part of our history.

It is a part of our lives.

And it would be a dishonour to allow yourself or anyone else to forget the importance and value of taking time to reflect on such a historic day.

So as Laurence Binyon once said...

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn;
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,
We will remember them.