It is once again Remembrance day. The 11th of November. Over 110 years since the beginning of the war that we remember coming to an end on this date. Although the growth in the reverence of remembrance is always a positive thing to witness, perhaps the core reason of why we should actually remember are being lost.
One would suggest that the reason that we enshrine remembrance day is to ensure that we learn from the tragedy of the past and the waste of human life over simple failures of diplomacy and tolerance. We have lost that generation that could readily remind us of the true impact of such events and the misplaced belief that such conflicts are ‘glorious’ in victory.
Alas, we seem to be deaf to the message from our past. We seem to failing to work together for the benefit of all. Instead, we seem to accept a world today that is probably more embroiled in conflicts that it has been for a long time. Unfortunately, unless we are directly affected, we tend to turn a blind eye and hope that it will all go away and never come knocking.
In truth, our guiding voice should be our ancestors who experienced the horrors of war and survived to warn us that there is nothing glorious about war. There is nothing glorious about the countless war graves. Any rational modern human being has an innate fear of dying, yet also seem to be unwilling to reduce such risk by taking positive steps to mitigating conflict wherever it is present.
Remembrance should not be a simple act once a year. To truly take part it needs to become part of our everyday. It needs to be reflected with everyone we deal with on a daily basis, especially those we may not always agree with. Our judgement will be made on how we treat others, not on how we remember history.
Our reverence for remembrance should be rooted in the present. It should however also show in our actions with others, both friend and foe. Only by de-escalating conflicts with understand and tolerance can we ever hope to avoid the terrible tragedy that humanity seems to too often readily fall into. It is up to us to avoid such tragedies that the past reminds us regularly are still close at hand.
History reminds how easily things can get out of control and how many innocent lives can be lost for little consequence. We have the power to choose what the outcome will be. How are you exercising your choice?
Lest We Forget.
If you are interested in the history of the ANZAC battlefields of World War One visit my site – http://www.anzacsinfrance.com/
CIAOPS 