Lest We Forget

Today is Remembrance Day. At the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month, we pause to remember the sacrifice of those who have died in the defence of our country.

I personally do not believe in war. I believe that violence begets violence. But I also know that there are times when one must stand and fight. We fight for freedom--freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from tyranny. We fight to preserve honored traditions. We fight for fairness and justice. We all wage our own little wars every day to make the world a better place.

Some of us fight with our words on the internet, some of us fight with big guns and armored personnel carriers.

Wars bring freedom and wars bring suffering. Both of those should be remembered, because without suffering and sacrifice, the freedom we have becomes meaningless.

There are a lot of brave, committed human beings fighting today in wars that a lot of people don't believe in. They are fighting for reasons that many of us take for granted. They are fighting for principles that even the leaders that sent them to those wars don't seem to believe in any more.

I really admire the strength it takes to be a soldier, no matter what the cause. You must march bravely into a situation you know may be fatal on the say-so of someone who is thousands of miles away, for no comprehensible reason. And you must do your duty, whether it makes sense or not. And you must keep your head high and keep going, no matter what. You must believe in the Greater Good, no matter what horrors you witness. That takes a kind of courage and commitment that I wish more people would show in their daily lives.

I would prefer to live in a world without war. I think we all would. Maybe by taking a minute today to remember the courage and commitment of our troops, as well as the pain and suffering caused by the wars they must fight in, we can move toward that world.

For all the veterans, past, present and future...Lest we forget.