Rector’s eNews 36: 11 November 2026

I am mindful that last week’s message focused on Remembrance, but as today is Armistice Day I felt it was not inappropriate to revisit the same theme. Our service on Sunday was a good occasion, sombre and with gravitas, but not depressing or sad. I have reflected more on how relevant such acts of remembrance are for young men at Michaelhouse today. The Great War ended well over 100 years ago and there are fewer and fewer veterans of the Second World War alive today.

Other conflicts have come and gone in the period since 1945 and many have been closer to home and with a more direct impact. Arguably, in our globalised and interconnected world, conflicts in different parts of the world have a greater impact on us than they might have had in the past. Yet remembering those conflicts – and recognising the devastation caused by wars is important. There are young men in Eastern Europe, in the Middle East, in parts of Africa, who are at war, and if our boys lived in those regions the prospect of war would be very real.

It is for these reasons that it is important that our boys recognise the ugliness and horror of war and that conflict is not to be glamourised or taken lightly. We want our young men to be sensitive to the impact of conflict, to be compassionate, and to feel sorrow for a loss, even if it is not their own. We live in an environment that is safe and largely harmonious. We live alongside our friends and brothers. It is good every now and then to remember it is not so for everyone, and even for Michaelhouse boys that it was not so for their predecessors who sat in the same pews, walked these corridors and played on these fields.

There is another theme that is meaningful too and that is around duty and obligation. In our modern age there is a natural tendency to live for oneself – to do what we like to do, to follow our own personal ambitions, to live for ourselves. That luxury is not afforded to those who go to war. The danger of our time is hedonism and even narcissism; a lack of empathy with the plight of others and a preoccupation with ourselves and our needs.

I shared a magnificent quote with the boys in assembly on Monday. It comes from General Joshua L. Chamberlain who, at the time of the Battle of Gettysburg was a Colonel, but was promoted afterwards and at an act of remembrance of that battle he said:

“We know not of the future and cannot plan for it much. But we can hold our spirits and our bodies so pure and high, we may cherish such thoughts and such ideals, and dream such dreams of lofty purpose, that we can determine and know what manner of men we will be whenever and wherever the hour strikes that calls to noble action.”

I followed this up with the boys, saying: His point is that no one suddenly becomes different from his habits and cherished thoughts. Character is built in advance, so that we are ready when the moment of trial comes.

 We cannot know the future, and we can do little to control it. But we can build our faith and our character now, so that when difficult things come our way, the foundations are in place. Cultivate good habits, cultivate good character, and cultivate our relationship with Jesus Christ. These are the things that will allow us to face the future with confidence.

Click here to read the Rector’s eNews