Many of us have family members who lost their lives in the service of this country. Their hopes of a family of their own and of future happiness ended in a burning tank, a shot-down Lancaster or, more frequently, in a muddy shell hole in Flanders. Their graves today are dignified, peaceful and well cared for. Marked with a simple cross, they lie in France or Germany or the Far East. We are proud of them and grateful to them, as we are grateful to those who protect us today.
But what if we had a conscientious objector in our family? We probably would not advertise that fact too much. Perhaps we would even feel ashamed of them on Remembrance Sunday.
This year, we think about those who refused to fight, not out of cowardice but out of principle. Some Christians could not accept that killing others was right in any circumstances.
Today in New Zealand there is a statue in honour of Archibald Baxter a 33 year old farmer who suffered unimaginably for his pacifism after being sent to France in 1917. His fellow soldiers, who initially despised him as a conscientious objector, came to admire his personal courage as he endured the dreaded Field Punishment No 1 day after day. He was tightly bound to a pole for hours each day in the freezing cold. He would have been released, the moment he agreed to carry a gun. He never did. This statue portrays only one part of his suffering.
It reminds us that courage comes in many forms.