Remembering my way, every day

“...we must first THINK about these things; 

because inevitably, we become what we think and our world is a reflection of us.”

~ Tanisha Renee

About a week before Remembrance Day I became engaged in a conversation about the Mennonite Central Committee Peace Buttons with someone who finds them offensive and disrespectful to the premise of Remembrance Day. I don't fully understand why people find it to be so; except that I can appreciate arguments that the White Poppy claiming “Peace” at it's green centre may have been a campaign better timed earlier or later in the year.

Yet I feel that the Peace Button still calls us to Remember – much like the original poppy – while affording Mennonites and other conscientious objectors an opportunity to participate in Remembrance Day in a way that they feel more comfortable with; that aligns more closely with their beliefs, their values, their reasons for remembering the sacrifices of the fallen and affected veterans and their families.

Truth: I don't always know exactly what to say to explain my pacifist stance, to defend this Mennonite value and belief that I have held on to while loosening my grip on some others. Except that I don't believe war and violence are the only way; nor even the best way to settle disputes. And I don't believe that war, violence, nor even force will lead us toward peace. I also don't have the solution that will. But I believe that if we as humanity put as much time, money, energy, and faith into discovering peaceful strategies for solving our domestic, national, and international disputes, as we put into non-peaceful strategies, that we just might find it.

Plaque at Canada's Peace Park in Cold Lake, Alberta

 

Peace and positivity can be powerful forces if we allow them to be; if we feed them with peaceful and positive energy.

Plaque at Canada's Peace Park in Cold Lake, Alberta

However I digress, because I also do not believe that Remembrance Day – nor the days surrounding it – are a time to debate whether war or one of it's alternatives are more effective avenues towards peace. I do not believe that Remembrance day – nor the days surrounding it – are a time to debate whether a red poppy, a white poppy, or a button are more appropriate or offensive ways to show our support and remembrance.

Remembrance Day for me is one day that serves as a reminder of all the sacrifices, mistakes and successes that have occurred because of war; because of violence; in the pursuit of peace. A one-day reminder of something we should be remembering every single day in our pursuit of peace.

I for one am grateful that I have the freedom to choose when to remember, how to remember, and why to remember.

Lest we forget.