Showing up at the cenotaph on
Remembrance Day is a little bit like attending church on a holy day; I need a
very good reason to miss the service.
The act of remembrance honors
those who served, and those who are currently serving in missions overseas. Our
presence at the cenotaph is a way of saying thank you to them. The act of
remembrance is also an expression of gratitude for the freedoms that we
sometimes take for granted, and for the gift of this peaceful, democratic
nation that we call home. The act of remembrance expresses our collective
desire for peace, and acknowledges our responsibility to build a more just
world.
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| Soldier Statue in Veteran's Square, Trail, BC Louise McEwan photo |
We are there to remember, not to celebrate victories or to glorify militarism
The main event of every official
Remembrance Day service is the two-minute period of silence. The practice dates
to a November 1919 proclamation of King George V. George V called for two-minutes
of silence at the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th
month “so that in perfect stillness the thoughts of everyone may be
concentrated on reverent remembrance of the glorious dead.” We are there at the cenotaph to
remember, not to celebrate victories or to glorify militarism.
The observation of silence is a
public action; it is something that everyone present engages in together. At
the same time, the silence has a very private component; we are alone with our
thoughts. It is a good time to reflect on the dignity, value, and sacredness of
every person. It is a good time to reflect on the harms of war. It is a good
time to reflect on our commitment to peace: peace in our hearts, our homes, our
communities, our nation, and our world.
A few years ago, my husband and I
attended the Remembrance Day service in Duncan, BC, where we were visiting a
friend. The reality of conflict was brought home to me in a sobering way. During the commemorative silence,
instead of reflecting, I found myself observing the scene in front of me. The numbers of young servicemen and
women far exceeded the numbers of aging veterans. Before my eyes, in the persons of the old and the young, I
saw the wars of the past and the militarism of the present. It was, frankly, a little
disheartening.
We are still far from beating our swords into ploughshares
For almost a century, we have
been remembering, yet armed conflicts continue to erupt around the world. As a global community, we have a long
way to go before we beat our swords into ploughshares. We are better at
waging war than creating the conditions necessary for peace.
Our slow progress at building
peace throws into relief another reason why our presence at the cenotaph is
important. Our presence can also
express an element of dissatisfaction. Our presence at the cenotaph is a way of
saying that we do not like war. War offends us.
Our commemoration is not an
acquiescence to war. It is not an approval for spending ever-increasing amounts
of money on the machinery of war.
While our presence at the cenotaph expresses gratitude, and demonstrates
support for our troops, our presence also expresses a determination to seek
peace.
Military training, weapons, and
equipment are not the instruments of peace. We do not win peace through
violence. We build peace, not through fighting, but through the promotion of
justice, and through the work of reconciliation.
The absence of peace is a result of injustice
The absence of peace is always a
result of some type of injustice: political, economic, cultural, or social. Rigoberta Menchรบ Tum, the recipient of the 1992
Nobel Peace Prize, writes, “Building peace requires that we start by weaving a
fabric out of the threads of equality, justice, participatory democracy, and
respect for the rights of all peoples and cultures.”
This is easier said than done, as
almost a century of remembrance and the history of humanity shows. So, Remembrance Day is also a great
challenge to those of us who yearn for a more harmonious world.
While imprisoned during WWII, a
prisoner scratched an already famous war memorial epitaph on the walls of his
prison cell: “When you go home tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow we
gave our today.” This year, on Remembrance Day, as we honor the past, let us
carry the hope contained in these words in our hearts. May they inspire us to
acts of transformation, no matter how small, that will advance a universal
culture of peace.
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