IT’S the time of year when a Pastor’s thoughts turn to Remembrance Day, and as so often happens, I have found myself reflecting on the works of the first world war poet Wilfred Owen.

I’ve never lost my love for his poetry nor the (unrealistic) wish that I could be able to write as well as he did, whether in prose or in verse. Take his description of what it was like to fight in the Battle of the Somme for example. It must have proved a simply horrendous experience given the fact there were over a million casualties on both sides. In fact, the first day, July 1, 1916, was the bloodiest single day in British military history, with over 57,000 British casualties alone, including nearly 20,000 killed. Owen captured the atmosphere superbly when he wrote “The sensations of going over the top” he wrote “are about as exhilarating as those dreams of falling over a precipice when you see the rocks at the bottom surging up to meet you. I woke up without being squashed. Some didn’t”.

Owen eventually died some two years later, on November 4, 1918, but his faith had obviously been ‘squashed’ much earlier. This becomes painfully obvious when you read poems such as ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth where he says, ‘No mockeries now for them; no prayers nor bells; Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs, —The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells; And bugles calling for them from sad shires.’

Tragically his parents received notice of his death a week later just as news of the end of the war spread across the world and church bells were ringing for the armistice. Interestingly though, given their pain, it is fascinating to note that the words on his tombstone stand in stark contrast to his loss of faith. They are taken from the poem ‘The End’ but the final question mark has been omitted, and his epitaph reads “Shall Life renew these bodies? Of a truth all death will he annul”. In other words, his questions were turned into a clear affirmation of faith.

In the light of this I can’t help thinking of some words of advice that the apostle Paul passed on to his ‘spiritual son’ Timothy: “Always remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David, was raised from the dead. This is the Good News I preach. And because I preach this Good News, I am suffering and have been chained like a criminal.”

Paul knew what it was to suffer, and like Wilfred Owen he had every reason to give up believing in an all-loving, all-powerful God too. But he didn’t. He was convinced that he could look forward to a glorious future, even if he were to be executed. The Resurrection of Jesus was proof of it. We shouldn’t forget that either.