A Time to Remember

I have spent more times than I can remember formed up into a platoon in dress uniform, standing at attention at various cenotaphs across Canada on the 11th of November over the years. First in the scouting movement, then as an air cadet, then in the militia and finally in the regular Canadian Forces. Skies were often grey, or it was a cold rain, and sometimes it was snowing. The poor weather always seemed to me to fit the mood of the ceremony, and it helped me to remember the horrendous conditions that our veterans experienced in war, not just for an eleventh hour, but often for years. Canadian military and military around the world still put themselves at risk and still suffer, often for a cause they think is right. I remember them too. 

Remembrance in its deepest form is really about re-membering people. Bringing people back into the membership of the living – into our consciousness – and claiming some sort of spiritual bond with them. We do it to give thanks for them, but, more importantly, we do it to recall the noblest reasons why people risked or gave their lives, and to commit ourselves to the cause of justice and peace. 

In the far past, such as the First World War, the focus on Remembrance Day has been on those who have served in the military or paramilitary. The greatest number of casualties were often among those in active military service. Things shifted significantly during the Second World War, when civilians were deliberately targeted, such as during the Blitz on the German side and the bombing of Dresden on the Allied side. Of course, there was also the deliberate targeting of Jews and other groups by the Germans as well. To cap off the Second World War, the Allies dropped the atomic bomb on the military targets of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulting in many civilian deaths. 

 This is what war does. It takes away lives and cripples those who survive. Tactics have shifted so that now, most of the casualties are civilians. That is how modern warfare works today. The sheer number of innocent men, women, and children who have been killed or wounded in the genocide of Gaza seems unthinkable and has increasingly weighed on this writer’s mind over the past two years. Incredible to me has been the relative silence among the media and in the discourse I’ve encountered in my daily life. There seems to have been a shroud of silence over it all, perhaps because of the appalling magnitude of the carnage and also perhaps because of the fear of being branded an antisemite. This is, of course, nonsensical, and fortunately, the voices have started to speak out against injustice, inhumanity and genocide. Courageous people are putting their lives at risk in a flotilla aimed at breaking the planned famine and forcing open a channel of humanitarian aid.  

This Remembrance Day, I will remember those who chose to put themselves at risk and those who gave their lives for the defence of their country or their ideals, but I will also remember the countless innocents whom I do not know. The countless civilians in Palestine, in Ukraine, in Sudan.  I’ve seen some of their stories through social media. Perhaps you have too. I will be remembering children who have died or lost their families. I will be remembering the grief of parents and grandparents. I will remember doctors and civilian aid workers, and journalists who have died in service to the suffering or trying to tell the truth. Remembrance Day is a sacred day for me. Let us bring back into membership – into our consciousness, those whom we never knew, but whose lives are just as sacred as ours and who are treasured by God. And let us use our voices and choices to commit to peace and an end to war.