There is never an excuse in being young. Yes, I have never seen war up close and personal. Yes, I can't really forget because I never knew.
But that's why I learn.
I recently saw a comic where a mother buys her little girl a bright red poppy. "Why are people selling poppies today, Mom?" the girl asks.
"They're a symbol," she explains. "Something to make us remember. A man called John McCrae wrote a beautiful poem about the poppies that grew in Flanders Fields. Also in the fields were crosses, marking the graves of the soldiers who died fighting in the war."
"Why do I hafta wear a poppy?" her daughter wonders. "I'm not really sure what a war is."
Her mother smiles. "I know. And that, I think, is the best reason of all."
Today, November 11, in Canada we celebrate Remembrance Day by reflecting on the soldiers who fought and gave their lives for the freedoms we daily enjoy.
But why is it so important to remember?
Phillip Jensen writes this:
Consistently the Bible calls upon us to remember.
The Apostle Peter wrote his second letter as a reminder to keep in mind the predictions of the prophets and commandments of our Lord and Saviour for as he said: “we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2 Peter 1:16).
Christianity is not based on mythology but history—the events interpreted by God’s prophets. For as Peter goes on to write: “and we have something more sure, the prophetic word… no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation… but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:19-21).
This message needs no revisioning for we have God’s vision of what happened, but we do need to keep revising our memory of it by re-reading and studying it.
It doesn’t matter which day we remember with gratitude those who have laid down their lives for our nation—be it Anzac Day or Remembrance Day—but it is important to stop and remind ourselves of our inheritance and the cost others paid that we may enjoy life as we do.
It doesn’t matter which day we remember with gratitude those who have laid down their lives for our nation—be it Anzac Day or Remembrance Day—but it is important to stop and remind ourselves of our inheritance and the cost others paid that we may enjoy life as we do.
And if we should remember with gratitude those who paid the supreme sacrifice for their friends, how much more should we remember God’s love in sending his Son for our salvation and Christ’s sacrifice in dying for us, his enemies (Romans 5:8).
Photo Courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons and Joe Flintham.