Searching Google for an image for Remembrance Day I discovered the accompanying image. It caught my eye, no pun intended. Reflecting on the image I found myself considering the various individuals: veterans, armed forces personnel, politicians, and everyday Canadians, young and old, who will pause to celebrate November 11th not as November’s holiday but as Remembrance Day.
With no remaining Canadian WWI veterans and dwindling numbers of frail WWII vets alive, the question has arisen repeatedly whether youth, as fewer and fewer have any personal linkage to the World Wars, can find much meaning in a communal day of remembrance. Even though younger generations may find themselves quite removed from the events in Europe and Asia of WWI and WWII, they are nevertheless daily witnesses to the mayhem of the present day theatres of war fought 24-7 on screen before their very own eyes. Perhaps they find themselves closer to the battles, losses of life and ruins created by warfare than former generations.
Probably never before have young minds and hearts been more consistently bombarded by the continuous chaotic havoc of destruction, devastation and desolation of war. The turmoil of news footage leaves little airspace for news of peace to find its expression amid our topsy-turvy world of erupting global turmoil. Do we not need to create a spaciousness for thoughts of peace?
Is this global pandemonium not compelling enough reason to set aside a nation-wide day where we focus on the futility of war, the cost of freedom and our deep longing for alternate ways, other than wars, to settle the disputes which arise among nations and ethnic factions? I’d like to wager that our moments of reflection on November 11th collectively release from our hearts an energy which makes greater peacefulness possible.
Sister Nancy Wales, csj