Editorial: Remembrance Day reflections

Traditionally, in this season of Thanksgiving, we share moments of gratefulness for our lives, for our country, it's relative freedoms in our communities, and the overriding desire to have peace on earth good will toward all.

All this is due to the souls who came before us, the ones who chose to view our lives as significantly worth the risk to, and the ultimate sacrifice of, some of theirs for ours. These are our veterans.

If you are a young adult today, it is easy to get a world mentality, as if we are all one big happy family. It's a nice aspiration, but living in a virtual bubble can cause one to miss the fact, this pulls a person away from the world they walk in. It's too easy to think the good things found today have always been this way.

In the past, information travelled slowly, as there was little aid to help it move, and the slowness afforded distortion a great opportunity to wreak havoc. Like, in the game telephone, with it's humorous breakdown of truth, missing key pieces of the original idea and some very imaginative fill-in-the-blanks round out the story. This is a simple but clear example of how things can get mixed up while sharing history over the years. However, these things were bought by blood, and the love and truth in the clear realities of their times!

The problem comes from trying to view the past through the lens of today. The progressive steps of the past need to be understood in the light and culture of those days; otherwise, a twisting of reality occurs, and truth is lost.

Even though much is taught in the schoolroom about the atrocities of history, under the barrage of revisionists and counterculture grinding out claims on the net, it is easy to forget the love for you our warriors carried and still carry in their hearts.

Since this statement was first coined, "The victor will always be the judge, and the vanquished the accused," by a disgruntled German military leader, who was convicted of war crimes, Hermann Göring, it is frequently said to discredit history and paint it with another colour. However, the reality is, many freedoms have been won and much has changed as a result of our veterans' faithful efforts.

So what remains is the nature corrupting the stories. After the advent of the telephone, information had less opportunity to be distorted this way, so you'd think the truth would have a better chance to come clear, although busybodies and the gossip mill still use the technology to sow discord. All through history, the resentment, bitterness and envy of those defeated in war have fuelled their desire to paint the victors in the darkest of lights. Yet, our country has a history of not being the aggressors but of aggressively defending life, like all our allies. In theory, the less time, the more reliable the story should be. Today, with the virtual instantaneous transmission of information, it is easy to fabricate stories to pollute the historically established truth. Once sent out on the net, these ill-minded revisionists sit back and insidiously watch the mill do its work, to devalue the sacrifice of Canadian veterans and those of our allies, which was made for all of us.

How many times have you heard someone say, “You don't know! You haven't been there.” Talking directly to those who have, is the only way to evaluate the genuine efforts of those who are our own. The sheer volume of misinformation today makes it necessary to take a clear, deliberate step back.

 This is not to push anyone to feel obligated, but rather to inform, and in hopes to elicit a genuine response to the history of the world you live in, here in Canada: to the amazing care taken to give you the life you share in.

If real time is given and honest thought attempted, more than the length of a commercial and the amount of time taken before many send out harsh words in a tweet, then a genuine young adult could be easily gripped with an understanding of what a privilege it is to be alive within an allied, free country like Canada.

This truth needs to be understood; sooo much has been won by Armed Forces personnel; without them, there would be nothing to protect. This is much like Christ himself, who died to protect the existence of life from the carrier of death in the spirit realm. They have considered life worth it; they have considered you worth it. So, a hearty thanksgiving should go to these tough, gracious human beings. On Wednesday, November 11th, it's more than worthwhile. This Remembrance Day, say a thank-you to someone you know in the Armed Forces in your home, school, or even virtually. Hey, and you know, even more than it used to be, a handwritten letter to one of these warriors of hope would bless their life.

Happy Remembrance Day and Happy Seasoning.