In the month when we think about those who have given their lives in war, the Two Minutes Silence is a significant act of remembrance. The silence provides an opportunity to remember those who have suffered in war and how we can work for a peaceful world. However, we can also find ourselves thinking about lunch or whether we’ve switched off our phone?
Victor Frankl, a victim of Auschwitz, suggested that the most intolerable of all human conditions is not imprisonment or hunger, but lack of meaning. The two minutes of silence enables us to connect with Jesus’ message, which offers true meaning to our lives and world. He spoke of giving ourselves in love for each other and the world, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you’ (Matthew 5:44). He also demonstrated such love in sacrificing His own life, ‘Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends’ (John 15:13). When observing the silence, let’s use it to reflect on this sacrificial love, as we call to mind those who have laid down their lives.
In our busy lives, where so much clamours for our attention, silence gives us an opportunity to reflect on our priorities and rediscover true meaning in our lives. This is not just for Remembrance Sunday, as Jesus often withdrew to find silence to seek God (eg: Luke 5:16). Let’s use silence in our lives as space to seek God’s will and offer ourselves to Him, just as those who gave themselves in conflict through the years.
‘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.’
Posted 14th November 2022