Remembrance Day
Growing up in Ontario we never had Remembrance Day Service as a public holiday. We celebrated Remembrance Day at school, or if it fell on the weekend, at the cenotaph. A strange sort of emotion would set deep in my mind on this day. I was an avid reader who read hero stories of gallantry and bravery against the odds of the enemy; G. A. Henty was one of the authors who piqued my interest in war and courage. However, another factor which contributed to my emotion was the vibrant war stories my mom told me of her experiences. You see my mom was liberated by the Canadians in her home country of Holland. She regaled me with memories of the war and her absolute respect towards the Canadian Forces. She loved the Canadians and raised us kids to honor their memory. Remembrance Day was a thoughtful, meditative, and important time in our home, and it left a solemn impression on us kids. On a side note, my mom, partially because her family had a military background, wanted me to join the army to get discipline and I suspect to get me out of the house, but my road was winding down another exit!
Remembrance Day has grown for me. I still love the novels and history of great battles yet in a way the glory of war has lost its sheen. I think of how all people have been created in the image of God, all equal, all designed to create, build, develop, and share their gifts and talents with each other. I look at the disciplines of science and technology, I look at the field of nature, and I look at the dynamic of cities, villages, country homes and farms and see firsthand the glory of purpose and vision. I stand in sheer amazement at the beauty of the world around me, its art, its culture, its food, its colors, its peoples, and I stop to shudder at the grandeur of it all. The vastness of the wilderness, the towering skyscrapers with their reflective glass, the treed suburbia with their hockey nets and basketball hoops nestled around the homes. The lights, the sounds, the silence and the darkness: part of the beautiful. I think of the people I meet, their uniqueness, their qualities, and their importance. I love to see the glow of laughter, the stately reality of sorrow, the range of passion in a good discussion, these all contribute to life and its journey.
We all travel this road and for the freedom to experience this I thank those who stood in the gap against those forces of evil who would tear this from us.
Yes, Remembrance Day is about war, it is remembering the past yet it is more: it is a time to remember that we have a freedom today that kings, queens, and all the great cultures that came before us would never have experienced. I am so grateful to those who came before, those who come today, and those who will come in the future that respond to the clarion call of battle to give us freedom. I trust we will stop and thank them this November.
-Richard Procee
(Owner of Hofstede’s)