蜜芽传媒

Spiritual reflection to start the day with Rev Neil Gardner of Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh.

Good morning. Eighty years ago it was an especially good morning across these islands, good and promising and peaceful, for after six long years of war it heralded the dawning of VE Day, the day when the allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of Germany and Victory in Europe was finally declared, all on the 8th of May 1945. For most of us it鈥檚 before our time, but nonetheless the images of national celebration are etched into our collective memory, The King and Queen and the young princesses appearing on the balcony of Buckingham Palace and waving to the cheering crowds, alongside Winston Churchill and his famous V for Victory. Here in Edinburgh the crowds overflowed from Princes Street down into the gardens below, and they lit bonfires up and down the Canongate. Although Victory in the Far East would not be won for another three long harrowing months, in war weary Europe it seemed as if the familiar words of the Psalm had been written especially with today in mind. This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

The cause for such rejoicing was an unconditional surrender and for Christians that鈥檚 a word that is often applied to God鈥檚 love. Unconditional. No ifs, no buts, regardless of what we do or don鈥檛 do, God鈥檚 love remains unconditional for each one of us, a greater love expressed once and for all in the life and death and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for his friends.

Loving God we thank you for the peace and freedom once won for us this day, and for all who laid down their lives for their friends. Amen.