The Poppy…
I am not a badge of honour,
I am not a racist smear,
I am not a fashion statement,
To be worn but once a year,
I am not glorification
Of conflict or of war.
I am not a paper ornament
A token,
I am more.
I am a loving memory,
Of a father or a son,
A permanent reminder
Of each and every one.
I'm paper or enamel
I'm old or shining new,
I'm a way of saying thank you,
To every one of you.
I am a simple poppy
A Reminder to you all,
That courage faith and honour,
Will stand where heroes fall.
Watch this beautiful video:
Armistice Day is on 11 November and is also known as Remembrance Day.
It marks the day World War One ended, at 11am on the 11th day of the 11th month, in 1918. A two-minute silence is held at 11am to remember the people who have died in wars.
There is also Remembrance Sunday every year, which falls on the second Sunday in November. On this day, there are usually ceremonies at war memorials, cenotaphs and churches throughout the country, as well as abroad.
The Royal Family and top politicians gather at The Cenotaph in Whitehall, London, for a memorial service.
The anniversary is used to remember all the people who have died in wars - not just World War One.
This includes World War Two, the Falklands War, the Gulf War, and conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Why do we wear poppies?
The reason poppies are used to remember those who have given their lives in battle is because they are the flowers which grew on the battlefields after World War One ended.
This is described in the famous World War One poem In Flanders Fields.
Ever since then, they have come to be a symbol of remembering not just those who gave their lives in World War One, but all those who have died on behalf of their country.
We can make our own field of poppies
Craft Activity 1
You will need:
Red paint
Black paint
Green paper
Green pen
Instructions:
Print two red thumbprints, one below the other. Repeat all over the paper.
With your little finger, add black centres to the poppies. If the thumbprints have very thick paint it might be an idea to let the red paint dry a bit first.
When the poppies are dry, draw on stems.
Activity 2 Make your own poppy wreath
You will need
Cut one of the two red paper cake cases smaller than the other. Then cut wavy lines on both.
See below
Then cut the rim off your paper plate to make a ring
Glue your poppies around the paper plate ring and you will have your own poppy wreath. You can add paper leaves if you wish to. You could hang it on your door or put it on the wall of your bedroom to remind you of who we are remembering…
Jesus said
13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13
And we see this as part of God’s story to us.
Remembering God’s Story…Remembering Jesus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npVjEIt4fHM
Prayers with actions
Lord Jesus lead me… from death to life (hands crossed over body and then hands raised above the head) …
from falsehood to truth (one hand close to the mouth, suggesting a malicious whisper, and then both hands with thumbs up next to the mouth suggesting the truth)…
from despair to hope (one hand on the forehead in despair and then the same hand shading the eyes, looking out to the future in hope) …
from fear to trust (two hands by the mouth expressing terror and then both hands open in front of the body expressing trust) …
from hate to love (one hand raised as a fist and then two hands over the heart) …
from war to peace. (one hand shaped like a gun and then two hands linked by the thumbs, palms inward, creating a dove of peace)
Let peace fill… our heart (the hands still as the dove of peace near to the heart) …
our world (hands as the dove of peace making a small circle away from the heart) …
our universe. (hands as a dove of peace making a much larger circle away from the body). Amen
And finally
They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
