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G4 0QZ - Glasgow Cathedral

Commemorations to mark the centenary of the start of the First World War have taken place in churches across Scotland this year.

The Moderator of the Church of Scotland, the Reverend John Chalmers has been reflecting on the role that the Church has played in those commemorations:

鈥淟ocally, ministers and congregations have been particularly conscious of the memories that are evoked. In communities all over Scotland, people have been putting on World War One exhibitions, tracing the line and lives of families who were lost.

鈥淎s well as nationally, holding a service at Glasgow Cathedral and a Drumhead Service in Edinburgh, we鈥檝e seen perhaps in local communities, some of the most significant remembrances.鈥�

For those who attend a service of remembrance this year, what is John Chalmers hoping they take away?

鈥淣owadays it鈥檚 not even clear who the enemy is sometimes,鈥� John Chalmers says. 鈥淓ven the politicians struggle to know where conversation or reconciliation could make more of a difference than conflict itself. I fear that perhaps we continue to use the old methods of sabre rattling and threat and even military action too quickly 鈥� and that we don鈥檛 talk enough.

鈥淚 hope that what people are learning from a long reflection on the First World War is that we have to do more to break through our understanding of what leads to conflict and to break through to a place where, across the nations, we can live with our differences instead of fighting about them.鈥�

Image Copyright: Martin McCarthy/Getty

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