REMEMBRANCE DAY IN CANADA: An Eyewitness Account

Lieut.-Col. John McCrae

The author of this poem, a member of the 

first Canadian contingent, died in France

on January 28, 1918, after four years

of service on the Western Front.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead.  Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Precisely at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, there are ceremonies all across the vast land of Canada where heads are bowed and many remember those who died in war.  This date and time mark the exact moment in 1918 when the First World War officially ended on the Western Front.  It is also on this date that we in America have Veterans' Day coinciding with Remembrance Day in Canada.

During our recent visit with our daughter and her family, we had the privilege of attending one of these ceremonies with her, held in London, Ontario.  We have thought of the country to our north, not just as one who has welcomed our daughter, but as a cousin of sorts due to our close geographic relationship, and today this especially holds true when we think of how often we have been allies in times of war.

I would certainly not be heralded as a "hawk" in matters pertaining to war and it's attendant violence, but I must acknowledge that Scripture does not hesitate to list historic wars through the ages that were fought for righteous purposes.  It is, at best, a mysterious topic, and I cannot deny that many of our present day freedoms were cemented for us by men who were willing to go off to war rather than have those God-given liberties and privileges removed.

Due to the present state of our country and the tug-and-pull of various factions attempting to remove freedoms that we have long taken for granted, I came to this ceremony of remembrance desiring to see if the purpose would be taken seriously in another land by those participating and those observing.  I was deeply moved and humbled by all that I saw and heard.  It was both solemn and lifting to see the serious faces of the men and women marching with a purpose, the skirl of the bagpipes making our hearts race.

Nearly everyone I saw that day was wearing the red poppy of remembrance, something that I do not see in my own country anymore.  I was actually flabbergasted to see people on foot streaming to the ceremony from all directions in a freezing rain-- the weather alone would have given them the perfect excuse not to attend!  As we gathered closely together there was such an atmosphere of comradeship and resolve; such respect for why we were there that, if anyone spoke, others around them would hold a finger to their lips.

After the marching, after the flag saluting, after the speeches, before the wreath-laying, came the part that caused tears to flow from my eyes:  in this socialized country, often criticized by their neighbors to the south, a man whom I presumed was a Pastor, sang nobly and out in the open "Abide With Me".  And if that weren't enough, we all bowed our heads and he led us in the most touching, God-honoring prayer imaginable.  Having lived previously in Canada for three years, we were able to join in and sing  with them their national anthem, "O Canada".

The words came to me, "How are the mighty fallen!", and I grieved for my own beloved country.  We have attempted to remove God from our schools, from our courtrooms, from the workplace, and even now we cannot mention God or recite scripture in a funeral or memorial service at a Veterans' cemetery.  We all have witnessed recently the shameful act of the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, being barred with chains to keep out the very veterans it was built to honor.  These dear brave men would not take "No" for an answer, and broke through the barriers--after all, they were the generation of men who took Normandy!  And just yesterday, as we commemorated one of the most sublime speeches ever made in America, the 150th Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address by President Abraham Lincoln, our President quoted the speech leaving out the all-vital, all-powerful words, "under God".

groomerphoto

How we must pray for our country losing it's bearings, it's purpose and inception "under God", for we have become a people who "do not know our right hand from our left".  We know in our hearts that to whom much is given, much will be required.  I personally have seen and heard the longing of those in other countries desiring to come to America, "the land of the free, home of the brave".  I stood before God humbled, and thanked Him for helping me remember as I stood with these men and women in Canada, a people who had not failed to honor their dead who had paid the ultimate price for the precious and precarious gift of freedom.  Let us pray for our children and grandchildren who follow after us, that they will always have the desire to live free, "under God", whether they be slave or free while living in this world's momentary, fluctuating system of governments.

groomerphoto