War Lingers

Running errands yesterday I caught a portion of a CBC piece on France. At the time I tuned in, the narrator was addressing the nation at war. Specifically, he was talking about the First World War and the massive battles fought on French soil. I was surprised to hear that, even still, 400 tons of munitions are retrieved each year from the fields where those battles were waged. Farmers drag them up with ploughs and bomb experts are called in to defuse the still lethal shells and grenades. Although WW1 came to an official end just over ninety years ago, it continues to be deadly because more than 600 of these munitions experts have been killed since fighting ceased. They die as the result of a war supposedly long over, the way their counterparts die today in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I suppose we are all more aware of the effects of war as we come closer to Remembrance Day, especially since Canadian soldiers are fighting and dying in Afghanistan. On Saturday one of our daughters was driving with a friend to Kingston and passed the vehicles carrying our latest fallen soldier and his family to Toronto. She texted her mother that it was very moving for her.

We will also acknowledge the fallen of many wars in worship this Sunday. As you know, I feel that it is important to express our gratitude without glorifying war. One of our two remaining mobile WW2 veterans will carry the wreath, along with a child. It is always a sobering few minutes in the service.