Today was Remembrance Day. The first ironic thing was when the St Lawrence Market rang a bell at 11a.m., and announced that we should give a moment of silence for those who lost their lives during WWI, hardly anybody paid attention, and small children cried from the sudden loud noise.
The second, well, actually, main reason for the irony of the day is its symbolic significance. Remembrance Day is about remembering those who passed away in a horrific war. It is is time for reflection, to say to ourselves, “Wow, that was really terrible! We shouldn’t do that again!” Instead, there’s a war between Russia and Ukraine and another war between Israel and Palestine (there’s other wars going on in the world too!) War is the biggest past time, besides sex and sports.
I guess what really upsets me is the war between Israel and Palestine, it hurst my very soul that thousands upon thousands of innocent civilians are being slaughtered every day. I don’t like to even call it a war because the civilians have no weapons.
The UN and all the politicians know what’s happening and, yes, countries like France want to call for a ceasefire, but countries like the US and Canada seem actually squeamish about doing this. I don’t know why. All around the world people are protesting and demanding a cease fire. Why aren’t our politicians listening?
After I left the Market, I saw a homeless man shivering in the cold and I automatically gave him some money. Maybe 5 seconds later I saw a couple run up to the man and give him coffee and pastries. I felt so happy and thought, yes, this is how life should be. People should have compassion for one another. We shouldn’t beat or kill people for differences or to conquer land.
On Remembrance day, let’s try to remember to be compassionate and kind to each other.
During this month, this song keeps playing in my head. The link to it is below.