My grandfather died in World War II. He volunteered and then
once his term was up, volunteered again. He went AWOL (with his
sergeant’s tacit permission) before his final deployment, to see his
newborn son for a few short hours. I heard that he thought he
would not come back from that tour of duty. Yet he fought anyway
because he believed it was right to resist Hitler and his influence.
The cause was worth fighting and dying for.
My grandmother was widowed when she had three sons aged one,
three, and five and raised them into good men despite
considerable hardship. I can still remember the look on her face
and the tone of her voice when she recalled her husband fighting
in the war. She honoured his commitment, even though it cost
her so much.
Around Remembrance Day we always quote the Lord’s words
about love: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down
his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) There is no greater sacrifice
because the desire for self-preservation is our strongest natural
instinct, the hardest to overcome. So we rightly honour the
devotion that was willing to risk so much for a cause,
and especially when someone voluntarily takes that risk.
The Lord’s words about laying down one’s life were followed with
His own commitment to us: “You are My friends if you do whatever
I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant
does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you
friends.” The Lord calls us friends and if we follow Him we become
in truth a friend, someone who can benefit from the fact that He
laid down His life.
The Lord’s sacrifice was so much greater than anyone else’s
because He not only experienced the pain of crucifixion - a terrible
death, but He also experienced rejection by all who had followed
Him and attacks by all of the hells at once. Eventually even the
angels could not stand to see Him suffer so much and urged Him
to give up on the human race.
The Lord persevered because of His love for us and,
on Remembrance Day, we honour smaller human versions of this
same commitment - the ways that others have dedicated
themselves to our peace and safety.
All of us also face opportunities to lay down our lives for our
friends when we do what is right and loving, despite strong desires
to do the opposite. The original Greek says “Greater love has no
one... than to lay down his soul.” When we choose to act with
integrity, despite not feeling like doing so, it can feel like we are
laying down our soul for those around us.
Soul in the inner meaning of the Word means our spiritual life
(Arcana Caelestia 9050:1) or our understanding of the truth
(Arcana Caelestia 9050:2-5). When we lay those down for someone
else, we are willing to change ourselves or reconsider our
understanding of the truth for the sake of others. We can give
no greater gift.
I have never experienced war, in part because my grandfather and
millions of others fought and died. My grandfather gave up
watching his sons grow to be fine men; my grandmother lost
a companion and a support and suffered for that. We are heirs to
the peace they stood for. In the years after the war, Remembrance
Day would have had incredible meaning because everyone in the
country would have known someone who died. Yet today, when
we have so much more peace, we can if we are willing
consider the present peace which we’ve experienced for most of
our lives and give thanks that those who went before made
it possible. Then we in turn, by our actions, can do our best to
make sure that those who follow us will have more opportunity for
peace and joy than we have even today. This is the greatest love.