In my growing up years November 11 had a much different feeling to it. Our family was not deeply touched by the two great wars. There was a story of my mother's cousin killed in a plane crash during the war – officially counted as a war casualty, but as I recall something that happened in Canada before he even made it to a combat zone.

We always went to the local service at the cenotaph or watched the commemoration at the national cenotaph in Ottawa. It all changed for me in 1990, my first year in ministry. I was serving in Bonnyville, Alberta only a short half hour drive from Cold Lake, the air force base where many of our fighter jets and other military aircraft were stationed. I was asked to speak at the Remembrance Day ceremony, and the place was full of armed forces members who had travelled down the highway to attend. There were so many of them in Cold Lake that they could attend a number of different services in the surrounding areas. It was also just after the start of the Gulf War, a war at which many of the CF-18 pilots and other personnel were present in a combat role, the first time since the end of the second world war that our armed forces were assigned in anything other than a peacekeeping role.

Suddenly, this was not a remembrance of something that had happened in the past, it was about what was happening in the present. A few years later and we were involved in a war in Afghanistan, and this time there were war casualties. It just seemed that with each step, something that seemed so removed from my personal experience, but which had always been important, was coming closer and closer to home.

I'm sure many of us remember when Kevin Nottle, a regular attender of Yellowknife United Church went to Afghanistan to serve a second tour, and how we remembered him in our thoughts and prayers until he returned to spend some more time with us before being transferred to South Alberta.

And of course it was only a week ago that it came closest of all when Jeff, our future son-in-law travelled to Afghanistan – his third tour there. How can it be that the war was supposed to end all wars, unfortunately ended up being called World War 1, a poignant reminder that instead of being the war to end wars, was only the first of two wars that were for the first time fought on a world scale? How can it be that we continue to deal with conflict with such tragic loss of life, of young women and men, young parents, young partners, people whom we are told were so full of life and talent and hope. Every Remembrance Day for me has been full of reflection – so many of the documentaries that used to play in the days surrounding the day would have veterans telling the stories of hardship and expressing concern that we continue to try to solve our disagreements in such violent ways.

I can't say that I've come up with any world changing answers, only more and more fervent hopes and prayers as the emotions of Remembrance Day have come closer and closer to home. How do we find a different way? I can only say that it requires each and every one of us to live lives that have peace as the goal – peace with justice of course, because an unjust peace is not peace at all, but that's what it will take.

I invite you to reflect on what I've said here, or wherever your thoughts and prayers take you in this time of Remembrance while we hear the last post, in the following two minutes of silence and then the rouse.

God bless those who've sacrificed their lives. God bless us as we try to find another way.