Prayer for the Departed
"We waved, we shouted, we cheered, and all their brave boots clattered on the cobbles. We heard their songs and smiled, though where they were going was a longer way than Tipperary. Longer than miles to go. Longer even than now to then."
My brother and I had the great fortune of a tour of the Ypres salient, thanks to Glyn Johns and his remarkable frient Johann. As I stood among the parade-ground ranks of gravestones I was reminded of the above words that I wrote in Prayer for the Departed, the final story of It Never Was Worthwhile.
The title of the collection sparked criticism, one reviewer even declared that he wouldn’t read it (but reviewed it anyway) because it was clear I subscribed to the populist view of lions commanded by donkeys, and that I was taking the “why can’t we all just get along?” stance in condemning war. To be honest, I knew I was taking that risk when I decided on the title, and I’m unswervingly opposed to war. But it’s a tragic fact that it's sometimes unavoidable, even necessary. But the cost is always too high.
These regiments of stone stand today for our inspection. Most are “known only to God”. I walked among them like the senior officer who knew that these faceless young man faced a trial that he himself was spared. To him, they were known only to God even while they yet lived. So was he to blame? Or was he a component in an unstoppable machine? Maybe neither; maybe both. Both arguments are valid. and my title was never intended to suggest either.
Looking at these well-kept rows, as far as it’s possible to be from the stench of battle, I know that the only undeniable fact is the tragedy of it all. We are guilty of two unforgiveable inventions: nation and religion. We cling to the notion that we, with our eighty-year nanosecond of life, can own a piece of land that existed four billion years before our existence is risible. And the suggestion that, because we happened to be exposed to a certain set of doctrines, we alone will be chosen for paradise is unforgiveable. To believe that either gives us the right to kill others is inconceivable.
Yet, throughout history that's what we've done. Again and again. We blame terrorists, we blame expansionist states but, until we understand that we are all to blame, the cemeteries will claim the land we die for.