Our teenage class learned to sing John McCrae’s ‘In Flander’s Fields’ this week. The rondeau ends with the following lines, ‘Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die. We shall not sleep though poppies grow in Flanders fields.’ If the dead could speak, what would they tell us? If those who passed away and who can now see life from a more knowledgeable perspective, what would they tell us? What would they tell us and what would they tell our families about the lives we lead? What would they tell our politicians in these changing times? What is the quarrel they would want us to take up, and with what foe? What torch would they want us to hold high so they could rest in peace, knowing we have not broken faith with them? The author, John McCrae, wrote this poem a few days after his friend and former student, Alexis Helmer was killed by a German shell. It seems that though in shock due to the death of his friend, John McCrae gleaned strength and courage to continue the fight destiny had assigned him. In this same way, like the red poppies blowing between the crosses, those who went ahead leave for us strength, strength in the form of a message like the poppies, a mission that we need to hold on to. Next time we see a poppy, let’s ponder and let’s remember what it is that those who passed before us may be trying to tell us. May we learn from their wisdom, as well as from their mistakes. May we hold up the torch they pass on to us to light our way and and that of our children into a brighter future. Scott Pelley recently ended one of his CBS Evening News broadcast with the quote from Soren Kierkegaard, “Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward!’
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
If you appreciate these articles, support their upcoming publication in a book called, "REFLECTIONS OF A FIRE CHAPLAIN"
|