As one of the "baby boomer" generation, born after World War II, I have no personal memories of life during the war years, but as the son of a father who served overseas and of a mother who trained as a nurse during the war, I grew up in a home and community where Remembrance Day was always observed. Without fail, on November 11th, we walked downtown to the local cenotaph, where a long parade of veterans always gathered, usually under very gray skies, with the wind blowing, often accompanied by snow or sleet. Hymns were sung, prayers were said, and wreaths were laid in grateful remembrance for those who laid down their lives while defending king and country and seeking to ensure the freedom and make the peace, which we knew we enjoyed.

When I went off to university, the great carillon bells in the Soldiers' Tower at the University of Toronto summoned us to a short but solemn service of remembrance on November 11th, in front of the wall where chiseled into the stone were not only the names of students and staff of the university who fell in either World War I or II, but also the words of poem, "In Flanders Fields", penned by army medic and Toronto graduate John McCrae before he succumbed to illness contracted while serving on the battlefields of France in 1917.

The Toronto Scottish Regiment also met for a special service in the regiment's home congregation, Knox Presbyterian Church, Toronto, at 2:00 p.m. on the Sunday afternoon on or prior to November 11th, accompanied by the pipes and drums, and sang among other pieces the regimental hymn written by a former minister of that congregation. The bugler's sounding of The Last Post was always a very poignant moment in that service.

When I graduated and went west to pastor two rural farming congregations in northern Alberta, I was greeted shortly after my arrival by the President of the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion, who came to request that I conduct the annual Remembrance Day service, held in the community hall, followed later in the day by a community dinner. This was a totally new experience for me, but one which introduced me a number of veterans with many different stories to tell of wartime experiences -- tales of losses and survival -- and families who very much wanted to remember.

After we moved to New Brunswick, among the privileges of ministry I conducted the funeral and burial for the last surviving veteran of World War I in Carleton County, New Brunswick. He was a member of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church there who lived to the ripe age of 103 with a mind clear enough to recall details of his wartime service, including a stint among the military police, and to affirm his gratitude for the privilege of resuming life in a developing Canada, working to improve roads and witnessing great progress in transportation and communication.

The last of the World War I veterans have left our midst, and with the march of the years, it will not be long before the last of the World War II veterans will also pass. There remain, of course, veterans of the conflicts in Korea, the Persian Gulf, and now Afghanistan. Many recent immigrants to Canada have arrived as refugees from the destruction wrought by war in many corners of the world and also know all too keenly the cost of freedom.

It is, I believe, a sign of God's providence that the annual day of prayer for the persecuted church sanctioned by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada coincides this year with Remembrance Day. We are called to remember those who for the sake of Jesus Christ are hunted, imprisoned, and tormented, and the families of those who have laid down their lives in faithfulness to Jesus Christ. He laid down His life for us, freeing us from sin, and opening for us the gates to live here and hereafter in the kingdom of God.

On Remembrance Day, we remember. We remember the sacrifices and the scars, and, lest we forget, renew the pledge we owe to those who have gone ahead to follow faithfully. We thank God that not only has Jesus gone ahead, but that he remains to accompany us as we journey, and as we journey with all who walk the road of self-sacrificial service of others in Jesus' name.

Remember those earlier days ... when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. (Hebrews 10: 32)

Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow-prisoners, and those who are ill-treated as if you yourselves were suffering. (Hebrews 13: 3)

Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. (Hebrews 13: 7)

Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead. ... This is my gospel, for which I am suffering. (2 Timothy 2: 8)

Remembering,

Your pastor,
James T. Hurd