"Remembrance day"

"Terry Kelly"

Nov 11 2010   Readings: Isaiah 11: 5-9  Micah 6: 7-9

Many will gather this morning all over the country to remember those who died and those who served our country in various ways in times of war. There is no way that we can repay them but we can continue the struggle for justice and peace for all.  May I suggest here that military might and weapons will not bring justice and peace to our world.  But if we could turn our weapons into plowshares and our military might into education, it might be possible.  
Numbers can not tell the story of Canada’s involvement in the many wars we have participated in, but the numbers of those who served or gave up their lives for our nation total over 1 and ½ million.  This is an outstanding number when you consider the small population Canada contained during many of those earlier years.  Remembrance Day is not only a time to remember those who died in the Great Wars, but a day to remember all those who have given their lives in the service of country and community.   I think of the many Police officers who have given up their lives while on duty in our towns, our cities or overseas.   I think of the many individuals: civilian volunteers, The Red Cross Workers, Doctors, Nurses, Priests, and Clergy who while serving in the fight against conflict, oppression, poverty and slavery have lost their lives.    I think of the countless number of women who kept the home fires burning during the Great War years, while being rationed when it came to household food items.  There were a great number of men and women who worked tirelessly in the factories to help support our man and women overseas.   Then one day in 2009 the war in Afghanistan became very personal for me.   I remember the phone call from my sister in Chezzetcook Nova Scotia early one morning in 2009 to let me know that her son Mark, my nephew, who was serving in Afghanistan with the Canadian Armed Forces was one of the casualties in a road side bomb explosion while on motorized patrol.  Fortunately for our family and Mark he survived the ordeal and his physical injuries have healed, but the emotional, and psyalogical effects of war, what he has seen and experienced have changed him forever.   Mark has since returned to active duty here at home.     

Remembering is why we gather today, but remembering is only one part of the equation. Remembering must always influence one’s present and future actions.  Many will show up at Canadian cenotaphs today and then go home.   But we are called to do more.  Our task is to work towards peace, not just as individuals, but as a nation.  It is up to us to see that our country is being built on a firm foundation.  A foundation that seeks justice and equality for all, where we strive to construct an educational system that is second to none.  We must prepare our youth for the challenges of tomorrow, a tomorrow that seeks peaceful means in resolving conflict.  We must strive to eliminate poverty where children go to bed hungry in a land of plenty.   We must strive for community programs for our youth that inspire a “ME TO WE” attitude.   “We have work to do Folks!  We need to work towards an improved health care system for our nation.    We need to strive for affordable education for all our young people.   One could go on and on about social concerns.  But let it be known that we who claim to be Christian serve a Social Gospel.   It is the way of Jesus, a way of social justice for all, especially for our children, the poor, the sick, the marginalized and the uneducated.   Let us not continue to live in a century where passiveness is the path of the majority, for we are still in need of people like Rosa Parks.  She was that young black woman, who through a simple act of sitting in the front seat of a public bus, changed America’s history concerning racial Justice.    Such people of courage are needed today to bring to our attention:  that for many, equality and poverty are unresolved issues in our world.   We must Remember why our men and women went to war in the first place—it was because they wanted a just and free society where all could live in peace and be assured of equal opportunity.   Let us not forget, but remember, and continue their fight for justice in nonviolent ways.   Remember that we too are called to serve – we are called to act justly, to have mercy and to walk humbly before our God.   Let us remember these words from our holy scriptures--- That righteousness should be our belt, faithfulness the sash around our waist.  That we are to work for the day when the wolf will live with the lamb, when the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf, the lion and the yearling together.    We must remember why and for whom we wear the poppy.  We must not falter but we must proudly carry their TORCH into all of our tomorrows.

Dr. McCray wrote in Flanders Field:  If we break faith with those who have fought and died, they shall not sleep even though poppies still grow in Flanders Fields.  Let us hold their torch high with pride and resolve and strive for a better community, nation and a better world.  Thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.   

"A Pittance of Time"