From this morning's service:
This day is to remember the men and women who fought in the wars, who serve our country. It is to honour their sacrifice and duty to a greater good. This day is also a reminder that peace is our goal. In the end, we are to live respectfully in harmony with one another.
With God, the power of love and solidarity will overcome the power of greed and destruction. But it takes risk. Risk to be changed, to give over of ourselves to those around us. We enter into conversations with our neighbours, with those that seem different from us. That is how we navigate the path to peace.
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So in this town, no matter what church we belong to, or not, if any, or where our kids go to school or where we work, how much we make, we’re here together. And we’ve taken time this day to remember those who have gone before us, who have fought for their beliefs, who resisted the evil that would enslave others or exterminate others.
In Psalm 60, we might resonate with an eternal promise of prosperity and success, one supported by our faith, however we may choose to express it. True strength, power and peace, are not by our own making, but through the spiritual efforts of our hearts in accord with the holy divine. That even a land as war-torn and conflicted as Israel and the Middle East, God is there as an ever-present hope for renewal and relationship.
In our own country, there will be an election soon. What a gift that we can agree to disagree, that we can select a new government for a nation as big, wide and diverse as Canada without bombings, assassinations and threats to civic safety. What a gift that a minority government could have lasted this long without riots, coups or uprisings.
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