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If ye break faith, we shall not sleep.

            Today we observed two minutes of silence after singing the two national anthems.  The custom of observing a day to contemplate the sacrifices made by Canadians in the service of their country is now more important than ever as Canadian soldiers are giving their lives to bring peace to Afghanistan. 
            Recent polls suggest that the collective memory of Canadian military valor has not been passed down to younger generations.  Today, with the tragic prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease, we are well aware of what happens when people lose their memory.  They are no longer the same persons, even though their physical bodies may look the same. 
            Far greater than the tragedy of an individual’s loss of memory is the loss of memory by a society, which no longer knows where it has come from and no longer remembers the sacrifices which have contributed to “the good life” which it presently enjoys. 
            The loss of the collective memory of Canadian military valor is paralleled by the loss of collective memory within our Anglican church.  While I was conducting Laura Benton’s funeral last year I thought of how few Anglican parishes in our diocese would still be using the traditional Anglican burial service. 
            The extraordinarily moving collection of Biblical passages contained in this service provided the text for the third part of Handel’s Messiah.  Has something new come along which so obviously surpasses this service as to make it obsolete, or has our church forgotten the precious legacy which has been entrusted to its care? 
            There are some who think it pointless in the current ecumenical climate to try to preserve Anglicanism’s special identity, and they proclaim the end of denominationalism.  Now it is perfectly true that Christian identity is more important than what makes a person an Anglican, a Roman Catholic, or a Presbyterian.  However, it is also true that the Christian church, as such, does not exist.
            Christianity takes on reality only in the particular Christian churches which do exist.  One can only be a Christian by being a Roman Catholic, a Presbyterian, a Greek Orthodox, an Anglican, or a member of some other denomination. 
            Therefore, in the existential order, confessional identity is a prior condition for Christian identity.  Forgetting our history, whether our history as a nation or our history as a church, means losing our identity.  Religious sensibility, on the other hand, is dependent, in large measure, on historical associations built up over a lifetime, associations which are hallowed by those whom we have come to love and respect, and from whom we have received our faith. 
            Radical change severs the historical connections on which religion is based, and particularly in our present culture, where religion is already on the periphery, such change can have a devastating effect. 
            Here at the Good Shepherd  our memory appears to be intact.  Since joining this parish I have marveled at how faithfully history is remembered and tradition preserved.  This is as it should be, for without tradition there can be no civilization, and without an attachment to our history, religious culture is impossible. 
            My prayer on this Remembrance Day is that we may keep faith with our national and religious past and preserve its memory, before it passes irretrievably into oblivion.                   

November 11, 2007

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