As I participated in a Remembrance Day service, I was struck by the inability of people to focus on the service at hand without talking on their cell phone, texting, and missing the point of being present. You’ll be happy to know that you were captured on the TV cameras for posterity.
We gather on November 11 at 11:00 a.m. to honour the dead, the dying, the wounded, the returned and the still serving. We gather to show them that their sacrifice, whether military or civilian, matters to us. We live in a country where we are free to say what we want, when we want to whom we want without fear of reprisal. Hell, it is because of them that you have in your hand the mobile device that you refused to put down.
A Remembrance Day service isn’t a place for posting on FaceBook®, tweeting, or talking on the phone. It is after all a time to remember, reflect on our blessings, resolve to do better for those who serve and served, and to follow their example. We are here today because they cared enough to show up. They left everything to do what they believed to be right. They deserved so much better than an open show of disrespect.
If you need a reminder, here are the links to songs of remembrance. Pay particular attention to ‘A Pittance of Time. You wouldn’t or couldn’t give our heroes that pittance of time.
A Solder Cries: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8gRx8tWJmI&list=RD2kX_3y3u5Uo
A Pittance of Time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kX_3y3u5Uo&feature=related
En Francais: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcjnqM6KQsQ
The Highway of Heroes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrkgV5bl7kQ&list=RD2kX_3y3u5Uo
From Me to You: http://pmalchemist.com/2010/11/11/one-minute-of-respect-or-two/
Next year, at 11:00 a.m. on the 11th day of the 11 month, stop, remember and give thanks. If you are in Canada, you are one of the luckiest people on the planet. Be grateful for what you have. We are doomed to repeat that which we refuse to remember.
