Â鶹ԼÅÄ

Good morning.

Churches have been quiet for the past few months.  The buildings have been silent, while the church itself has been making a noise – speaking and acting in a quiet world.

Tomorrow evening at 6pm churches are preparing to make a different noise.  More than eighty churches across London will ring their bells seventy-two times to mark the third anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire.

At a time when coming together physically to remember isn’t possible, the church’s ringing of the bells is a memorial which encourages not just those within earshot, but all of us,  to stop and remember those who lost their lives in the Grenfell blaze on June 14th, 2017.

Perhaps this year has a particular poignance, as many people are mourning the loss of loved ones before their time.  Our shared experience of grief lends us a greater empathy, and makes our remembrance more ‘real’.

We do pride ourselves on our rituals of remembering in this country.  ‘Lest we forget’ we inscribe.  ‘We will remember them’, we echo.

When people die tragically, we are saddened.  When they die needlessly, we are outraged and call for answers, accountability and justice. 

‘Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it’ we quote – and yet how quickly we forget not just faces and names but the painful event of the Grenfell tragedy.

Peoples' lives do matter – and today we remember those who have tragically died in any circumstances.  But tomorrow evening, when the bells ring out 72 times, we remember the 72 people who so needlessly died in Grenfell Tower.  We will remember them.

Lord, give comfort to those who grieve, and healing to the broken.  May we hold in our hearts those whom we have loved and lost.  When we forget, remember them, Lord.  Amen.