Lest We Forget

Yesterday was Remembrance Day when we honour those who laid down their lives for our sakes in service to Queen and country in times of conflict.  I have the privilege of serving at Chaplain to Branch 341 of the Royal Canadian Legion in Parkhill, ON.  It was a busy day for Legion members.  We attended the Remembrance Day assembly at the North Middlesex District High School.  This undertaking is student led and it is wonderful to see the results of what must be a significant effort among all the many activities of High School life.  This was followed by the service pf Remembrance at the Cenotaph in Parkhill at 11:00 – the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.  It is gratifying to see the support by the community for this event – particularly the attendance by the students for the two elementary schools in town.  In the afternoon there was a service of Remembrance the Cenotaph in the smaller nearby community of Lieury. 

There was a time in my life in which I was more ambivalent about Remembrance Day and all that it represented.  I grew up in a family that did not embrace the tradition.  My father, who was someone who, I believe, viewed Remembrance Day as being focused on the militarization of our country rather than an occasion to honour those who had served and made the supreme sacrifice.  This is speculation on my part as, regrettably, I never discussed this with him.  That influenced my early attitude towards my attitude towards Remembrance Day.  However, I have come to understand that we can and must honour those who served and made the ultimate sacrifice but we must also hope and pray and work towards and world in which war is no longer seen as the answer to conflict between peoples and nations. 

I will close with the Prayer of Remembrance for Remembrance Day from the Chaplain’s Manual of the Royal Canadian Legion:

Almighty God, as You have gathered Your people together this day in hallowed remembrance, we give you thanks for all who laid down their lives for our sake, and whom You have gathered from the storms of war into the peace of Your presence.  Let the memory of their devotion ever be an example to us, that we at the last, being faithful unto death, may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. 

Blessing on your journey.