Public reminders along the Royal Mile

Instilling memory

Whenever we visit the magnificent structures in Britain known as churches, my husband and I are always drawn to the multitude of memorials for units or individuals lost abroad in expanding and defending the Empire. Yesterday in St. Giles, Edinburgh was no different.

I realise this is hard to read but it is a memorial to soldiers lost in Afghanistan in the 1840s, a place where we sadly experienced the same tragedies as the Brits almost two centuries earlier. The plaques are direct, sometimes detailed, while others terse. But they enshrine a memory of long-term commitment to sacrifice, beyond a single individual, for the national cause.

Other plaques commemorate individual pain as did the one below which struck me as so personal with the acknowledgement to the afflicted father.

Yet further, memorials ask us to recall universally beneficial events such as this as one enters St. Giles.

All I all, these reminders are of events beyond ourselves, consistent with actions and consequences. Life is rarely entirely positive nor is it eternally bad but a blend of many actions with consequences for centuries to come. These are public reminders someone cared to ensure. So few experiences are quite as unique to ourselves as it feels, no?

Thank you for taking time to read this column. Thank you for circulating if you find this of value.

A final soaring photograph from St. Giles, a place of incredible efforts to assure memories and merited service endures.

Actions create consequences.

Be well and be safe. FIN